After the 15th game-day was played during the week, the next game-day in the men’s Total League is scheduled for this weekend. At the moment, 2 different races are interesting in the men’s league, the race to grab the top 2 spots and the race for the play-off-spots.
Saturday: 19:00: Heffingen – Contern
–> A look at the standings shows that Heffingen is facing a very important game this week. After their last-second-win in Larochette, the team of coach Daniel Brandao now needs a win against Contern, a direct comparison in the play-off-race. Contern (9:6) is in the much better situation to grab the 6th place compared to Heffingen (7:7). With a road-win, the team of coach Gavin Love could take an enormous lead over the opponent in the standings. However, if Heffingen wins this game, they would put a lof of pressure on Contern over the next weeks. The direct comparison is also important, Contern won the first meeting 83:66, another advantage for them … the pressure in this game is clearly on Heffingen.
19:30: T71 – Musel Pikes
–> The Musel Pikes are in the same desperate situation than Heffingen, the need to win games in order to improve their record (7:7). However, their cold shooting overt the last games did not allow them to win games. In Dudelange, the Pikes need to realize a surprise to stay in reach of the 6th place. T71 just won a road-game against Racing thanks to a spectacular buzzer-beater by Frank Muller, their eyes are clearly on the top 2 spots so they can definitely not lose this game at home.
20:00: Résidence – Amicale
–> Résidence’s winning streak has ended during the week and now the derby against Amicale is a chance for the league’s leader to start another winning streak. Amicale, that has played the last two games with only one professional player (Tunstall), is out of the play-off race.
Games on Sunday:
17:15: Etzella – Basket Esch
–> These are the games that will decide who will finish the season on places 1 and 2. Etzella (12:2) and Esch (11:3) are looking for a real battle. Etzella won the first meeting 101:96, the direct comparison will also be highly important.
18:00: Sparta – Racing
–> Both teams are not in the play-off race, Racing could only make a last push with a big winning streak, but their chances are very limited. The goal for Sparta is to continue the strong performances and maybe grab another surprising win over the next weeks.
20:00: Telstar – Arantia
–> Telstar is winless and they are looking to put up a fight in every game. Arantia has lost the derby against Heffingen in dramatic fashion and they should be able to grab a road-win on Sunday to stay in an excellent position in the play-off-race.
Women’s league – time for decisions
In the women’s Total League, only 3 or 4 games remain to be played for all teams! The Musel Pikes, Résidence Walfer and T71 (and maybe Gréngewald) will fight for the top 2 places overt the next weeks while Etzella, Amicale and Basket Esch are looking to grab places 5 or 6. The fight could become very interesting over the next game-days, just it was in the previous season.
Games on Saturday:
17:30: T71 – Etzella
–> T71 wants to underline the ambitions to finish the season on top of the standings but Etzella can be a diffcult opponent on a good night.
18:00: Résidence – Gréngewald
–> Gréngewald is currently 4th in the standings, the qualification for the play-in-game is not in danger, they surely want to enter that game with home-court advantage. With 4 wins in the next games, the « greens » could even try to climb in the standings and pass a team like Résidence. Walferdange is looking to stay on top of the standings with a home-win.
18:30: Amicale – Sparta
–> Amicale needs a win and they have the easiest challenge this weekend by facing the only team without a professional player.
Game on Sunday:
15:30: Basket Esch – Contern
–> Esch needs wins to stay in the play-off-race, especially after losing in Ettelbruck last week. The hosts enter the game against Contern as the clear favorite.
On Saturday, Résidence is facing a big challenge when they host Gréngewald. The of coach Hermann Paar
