The Maitland Mustangs can move clear in fourth spot with victory against the Illawarra Hawks in a top five NBL 1 East Men's showdown at the Maitland Federation Centre today from 3pm.
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The Mustangs and Hawks are locked together on eight wins after Maitland beat Central Coast 81-70 at home on Saturday night and the Illawarra lost 78-66 to Newcastle.
After trailing 17-19 at quarter-time, Maitland built a nine-point winning margin led by Matthew Gray scoring 19 and Will Cranston adding 17 points and seven rebounds.
The two former Tamworth teammates who came to the Mustangs from US college basketball this season carried the load with Maitland able to reduce experienced duo James Hunter (nine points) and Sharif Watson (six points, six rebounds) time on court to just 16 minutes each ahead of today's clash.
Local star Daniel Millburn also showed some really good form with nine points, six rebounds and two assists from his 19 minutes.
In the NBL 1 East Women's today from 1pm, the Mustangs will face the fourth-placed Illawarra Hawks on the rebound after a heavy loss to Newcastle.
The Mustangs went down 80-65 against Central Coast on Saturday night, while the Hawks were 101-57 losers.
Mikaela Dombkins and Rachel Williams played all 40 minutes for the Mustangs. Dombkins recorded a double-double of 19 points and 13 rebounds along with six assists and two steals, while Williams landed 14 points and made seven assists, two blocks and two steals.
Hannah Fox made 14 points and pulled in six rebounds.
Tip off in the NBL 1 East Women's is at 1pm, while the Men's game starts at 3pm.