It's a weekend on the road for London Lions Men II while the women's second team face a key game at Baking Abbey in their fight against relegation.
Piece Maslam's men's team are eighth in NBL Division One and travel to Loughborough Riders on Saturday before moving on to Bradford Dragons the following day.
While Lions have eight wins from 15 games, both of their opponents over the weekend have losing record with Loughborough 11th with four wins from 12 games and Bradford a place higher with a 5-9 record.
In their poorest campaign since joining Division One, Loughborough produced one of their best displays of the season to win 93-75 at Barking Abbey when the sides met in November. The midlands side under-west a chance of coach earlier in the season with Will Maynard taking over from Mark Jerram, and recently added British guard/forward Evan Walshe to their squad as they look to put some distance between them and relegation zone. Big man Harrison Gamble, who has seen plenty of BBL action with Leicester Riders over the years, leads them in scoring with 15.3 point per game, adding 6.3 boards. Justin Hedley's 4.1 assists and 7.6 rebounds put his top of Riders' stats in both categories, and he adds 11.6 points.
While Riders' team consists mainly of students, Lions' opponents on Sunday are built around a core of veteran players. Chris Mellors' Dragons have yet to meet the Lions this season but last season's only meeting - which was played in Nottingham due to Bradford's venue issues - proved to be a thriller at Lions won 77-75.
Former Sheffield Shark Zach Gachette has been a big signing for Mellor, leading Dragons in points (22.2 per game) assists (5apg0 and steals (1.1) as well as pulling down an average of 7.7 boards. Three-point assassin Dave Walsh is converting almost 40 percent of his outside shots as he averages 14.8 points per game, adding 4.5 rebounds and 1.6 assists. Veteran forward Ricky Fetske adds 11.2 points and 1.3 assists to his team-high 9.8 rebounds while Jermayne Laing continues to contribute on both ends of the floor for the Yorkshire side.
Meanwhile it's beginning to become crunch time for Lions II in WNBL as they host Cardiff Archers in a vital game. Admission is free for supporters at Barking Abbey, with the tip-off at 2pm.
Last week's loss at fellow strugglers Nottingham Trent University was the 11th in 12 games for David Lavinier's young side and with ten games remaining they are now three wins adrift of the safety zone.
Archers will arrive in East London sitting seventh in the table with a 5-7 record and will fancy their chances of reaching the play-offs. Denisa Molnar is having a steller season for the Welsh sdie, leading Archers in points (15.8ppg), Assists (4.2apg), steals (4spg), three point percentage (32.8%) and minutes (31.8mpg). Bunyan leads Archers with 8.9 rebounds, adding 13ppg and converting just over 30 percent of her three point efforts..
The sides met as part of a double-header with their WBBL teams in late October, and although Lions' senior women came out comfortably on top, the younger Lions went down 69-61despite a 25-point haul from Fatmata Jennah., Heading into this weekend Joseph is 2.3 points clear at the top of the race for Division One's top scorer with 22.5ppg.
Elsewhere in the NBL, Barking Abbey Lions have a week off while their counterparts at University of East London Lions continue their push for the Division Three London title when they travel to London Thunder on Saturday before hosting London Future Generations on Saturday afternoon. Victory in Sunday's game would go a long way towards sealing the title for UEL.
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