The Manchester Area Basketball League 18/19 season comes to a finale this weekend with the Final Four playoffs at the home of Team GB at the National Basketball Performance Centre in Manchester. Both senior men's teams have beaten 6 & 7 other teams respectively to a semi final spot where they are 2 games from silverware.

2nd Team
--------------

The 2nd team have recovered well after a tough start to the season, legitimately finishing in joint 2nd place with 3 other teams. Having been penalised for late score sheets when other teams weren't, the team finally finished in a contentious 5th place. Pride were drawn in the quarter final against Holy Cross Spinners away where they came through the test on Thursday night with a 79-60 win.

The semi final sees Pride 2 up against the league winners in Manchester Kings 1. Kings 1 won both games in the season head to head with a narrow 55-52 win early in the season at home and a flattering 64-48 win at Preston when the game was tight until the last 2 minutes. The game will certainly be an exciting and testing one for the squad with the winner vying for a place in the final on Sunday. The game tips at 10am at the NBPC Manchester (https://www.basketballengland.co.uk/talent/nbpc/) M12 4TF. Come down and support the team for free.

1st Team
------------

The 1st team completed their perfect record for the season with 18 straight league victories. The only defeat the team has suffered this year was against Moss Side Tropics in the cup. Moss Side ended the Premiership season 20 & 0 and won the cup so are unbeaten for the entire season going into their playoff weekend.

The 1sts, due to their league position didn't have to contest a quarter final and head straight to the Final Four. Their opponents in the Semi Final are Stockport Atlas, who narrowly beat Mavericks in their quarter final playoff by 3 points. They meet with Pride having suffered a home loss of 63-88 and an away loss 50-67. Pride will enter the tie as favourites but will be well prepared understanding playoff basketball is a different animal to league basketball. The 1st team tip off at 2pm at the NBPC Manchester (https://www.basketballengland.co.uk/talent/nbpc/) M12 4TF. Come down and support the team for free.

Good luck to both teams who have already done the club proud, let's hope for some silverware. #GoPride