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Tigers, Antelopes head into crucial weekend

Regular-season action resumes in the Super Basketball League (SBL) tonight after an eleven-day break with the Dacin Tigers taking on the ETTV Antelopes in a highly anticipated contest at the National Cheng Kung University in Tainan.

The final weekend of play will kick off in grand fashion with the showdown between the fourth and fifth placed teams, with the winners likely to secure a playoff berth and the losers likely to have to pack their bags and enjoy the post-season games from the spectators' stand.

With the Tigers holding a half-game lead over the Antelopes and having two relatively easy games with Bank of Taiwan and the Azio Eagles tomorrow and Sunday, a loss by the Antelopes tonight would virtually put them out of contention for the fourth and final playoffs spot.

Even a win over the Tigers would not guarantee the Antelopes their first-ever post-season appearance as they have to take on the league-leading Videoland Hunters in the season finale tomorrow night.

"All we can do is to try to win out the year and hope that [the Tigers] will somehow falter against the Bankers and the Eagles in their remaining games," a hopeful Antelopes coach Chiou Da-chung said.

While the Antelopes may be slight favorites to win against a shorthanded Tigers pack that will miss their speedy point guard Su Yi-jeh (out with a broken arm) and have to settle with a less-than-100 percent Wang Chih-chuin, who is also recovering from concussion, a win over the well-rested Hunters tomorrow night may be a bit of a reach.

In order for the Antelopes to have a chance to win out the weekend, the "twin-tower," consisting of musclemen Delvin "DT" Thomas and Wu Dai-hao, would need a huge showing on both ends of the floor, and sharp shooter Yang Yu-ming would also need to find his touch.

Also scheduled for tonight is the match between the Yulon Dinos and the Bankers, as the former look to force a win and a share of top spot in the standings with the Hunters, while the latter will strive to play the spoilers in the yet-to-be-determined final playoff picture.

An expected win by the Dinos would put the defending champs in control of their own destiny as they gear up for two big games against Taiwan Beer tomorrow and Sunday's season finale versus the Hunters.

Should the Dinos beat the Beer Crew and the Hunters also win their game against the Antelopes, Sunday night's match between the Dinos and the Hunters would become the regular-season title game, in which the winners walk away with top-seed status in the playoffs and the losers are left with a tough first-round series against Taiwan Beer.

The playoffs picture is far from being finalized, however, because should the Beermen beat the Dinos tomorrow and then beat the Eagles on Sunday, they too could end up with the regular-season title should the Hunters lose either one of their games against the Antelopes or the Dinos this weekend.
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