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30 March 2026  7 min read

W/NBL Playoff Recap (28/29 Mar 2026) - semi-finals set, results, stats and more

Eight became four across the NBL's various competitions this past weekend, with the quarter-finals stage providing thrills and spills galore.

Both Pool winners in D1M survived, but it was a different story for the runners-up as they were both dumped out by #3 seeds.

D1W's regular-season top four all progressed as well, setting up a pair of exciting semi-finals when NBL reconvenes on 11/12 April.

Saturday 28 March 2026

D1M

3pm - Barnet Bulldogs 103-106 Manchester Magic (After 1OT) - LIVE STATS / LIVE STREAM

5:30pm - Myerscough Basketball Academy 83-92 Barking Abbey - LIVE STATS

6pm - Solent Kestrels 85-70 Birmingham City University - LIVE STATS / LIVE STREAM

7:30pm - Worcester Wolves 86-72 London Stars - LIVE STATS

D1W

1pm - Endeavour Ipswich Basketball 90-76 Worcester Wolves - LIVE STATS

3:45pm - Anglia Ruskin University 69-51 Manchester Mystics - LIVE STATS

D2M

5pm - Oaklands Wolves 20-0 Brent Bulls

6pm - Sussex Storm 78-76 Endeavour Ipswich Basketball

D2W

2pm - Barking Abbey 70-40 Tees Valley Mohawks

3pm - Hemel Storm 55-42 London Cavaliers II

5pm - Milton Keynes Breakers 62-50 Solent Kestrels

Sunday 29 March 2026

D1W

3:15pm - CoLA Southwark Pride 72-45 Brent Bulls - LIVE STATS

3:30pm - London Cavaliers 81-65 Loughborough Riders - LIVE STAT

D2M

2pm - Tees Valley Mohawks 87-71 Bath Basketball

2pm - Gloucester City Kings 79-47 West Yorkshire Hawks

D2W

3:30pm - East London Phoenix 66-55 City of Birmingham Rockets

View all the fixtures for this weekend

 
 
 
 
 
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D1M

Manchester and Barnet played out one of the games of the weekend, with the visiting Magic coming through as 106-103 winners after a period of OT.

A Tobi Ojuri (23pts, 8reb) basket with four ticks remaining left the home crowd buzzing, sending the game to an extra frame, but it was Pharroh Gordon (24pts, 8reb) and Manchester who would be left celebrating by the end of OT.

Pool B winners Solent Kestrels used a 31-18 opening quarter to ease past Birmingham City University 85-70, doing the double for the season over the West Midlands side following an NBL Cup success back in late December.

The early burst allowed the hosts to lead from almost tip to buzzer, with their advantage never dipping below five points despite a spirited effort from BCU.

An impressive 32 points and eight assists from Andre Arissol got the job done for Solent, with Ronald Oberia (19pts, 7reb) leading the way for the visitors.

Fellow Pool winners Worcester needed a 33-21 fourth quarter to see off London Stars, winning 86-72 after trailing 18-12 at the end of one.

A double-double from Earl Burgess (19pts, 13reb) paced the Wolves, with team-mate Emmanuel Yeboah (25pts, 9reb) and Stars' Bradley Kaboza (25pts, 4ast) leading all scorers.

Barking grabbed revenge on Myerscough for their EABL quarter-final defeat, going to the North West and snagging a 92-83 victory.

BA broke open an even contest with a 24-14 third quarter, shooting 47% across the game thanks to 26 points and eight rebounds from Joshua Mendes, who went 10-16 (62%) from two-point range.

The semi-finals now produce a pair of in-Pool clashes, with Pool A's Worcester and Manchester going head-to-head, and Solent and Barking doing battle once again after splitting their regular season series one-apiece.

 
 
 
 
 
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D1W

D1W followed a predictable pattern, with all four higher seeds progressing to the semi-finals.

League winners London Cavaliers made short work of #8 seeds Loughborough, with a 21-10 second frame setting up an 81-65 win.

Chinwe Iwunze (35pts, 11reb) was in fine form for the the Cavs, cancelling out 20 points from Caitlin Ryan.

Follow Londoners CoLA Southwark Pride followed the Cavs through, seeing off #7 seeds Brent 72-45.

The visitors were held to single digits in both the first and third quarter, allowing CoLA and Adaora Dioramma (15pts, 4reb) to run away with proceedings the longer the game went on.

WNBL National Cup winners Manchester Mystics capped a miserable second half to their season as they bowed out of the playoffs at the first hurdle, losing 69-51 against Anglia Ruskin.

Playing without injured top-scorer Kizzy Spence, Mystics scored just 29 points across the first 30 minutes of play, with the likes of Tia Freeman (28pts, 10reb) and Vicky Gray (16pts, 7reb) profiting at the other end for ARU.

Ipswich had no time for Worcester's outsiders tag, knocking off the much-fancied #5 seeds 90-76.

Twenty four points from Harriet Welham and 22 more from Maisie Keyes did the damage for the Suffolk side, erasing a 44-39 Wolves' half time as the hosts took the second half 51-32.

 
 
 
 
 
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D2M/W

Barnet Manchester may have been a spectacle in D1M, but Sussex Storm's 78-76 victory over Endeavour Ipswich Basketball wasn't short of drama, either.

Twenty points from Jamaul McAllister helped the hosts survive a wild ending, with Anthony Vincent (17pts) leading the way for Ipswich in defeat.

Eighteen points from standout forward Kekoa McArdle helped Gloucester City Kings to keep their unbeaten season alive, tacking a 79-47 playoff win over West Yorkshire Hawks onto their 18-0 regular season record.

Twenty one points from Kofi Amo-Agyei wouldn't be enough to help Bath Basketball past Tees Valley Mohawks, who sent the visitors packing for a long trip home following an 87-71 win.

The hosts were paced by 19 points from Cam Schainfeld and 17 more from Alfie Merifield, as the Mohawks now advance to face Gloucester City as Oaklands host Sussex Storm.

In D2W there were no upsets either, with all four home sides progressing to the semi-finals.

Pool B winners Barking Abbey had no problems getting past Tees Valley, winning 70-40, and Hemel edged a low-scoring encounter with London Cavaliers II 55-42.

Sixteen points from Sarah Round helped Pool A winners Milton Keynes past Solent Kestrels, ending the run of the former D1W champs with a 62-50 final score.

In Sunday's only action, East London Phoenix rounded out the field for the next round as they beat City of Birmingham Rockets 66-55.

Phoenix will now hit the road to face Milton Keynes, with Barking hosting Hemel as the four sides all try to book their ticket to the D2W Final.

HoopsHQ keeps fans in the heart of the action

Basketball England’s new game-day app HoopsHQ is now live and available to download. 

HoopsHQ is the one-stop shop for everyone participating and following Basketball England’s leagues and competitions, including the NBL, WNBL and Jnr. NBL.

It means players, coaches and supporters will be able access up-to-the-minute information on games, including – where digital scoring is utilised – live updates. FIBA Live Stats will still be used in relevant NBL and WNBL competitions.

The app will feature scores, standings and fixtures, plus basic player and team stats, and will be where participants' Basketball England licence cards will be hosted for the upcoming season.  

Download the HoopsHQ app: 

For IOS

For Android

User guide

Main image credit - Luke Simcock

 

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