Mersey Tigers host Guildford Heat at the ECHO Arena tonight (Friday, 7.30pm tip) looking to retain control of the BBL title race.
An 88-84 victory over nearest rivals Newcastle Eagles on Tuesday night put the Tigers top of the tree, but they fell to an agonising last gasp defeat at Leicester on Wednesday.
That 89-87 loss has left a three-way tie for first place between the Tigers, the Eagles and Sheffield Sharks, who the Tigers still have to play three times in the run in.
The Heat come to Merseyside for the first time this season looking to avenge their defeat in the BBL Trophy Final earlier this month, which saw Tony Garbelotto’s men return from London with their first silverware of the campaign.
The Tigers will be without point guard Perry Lawson, who is expected to miss much of the season run-in with an arm injury.
Owing to their final appearances in both the BBL Cup and Trophy, the Tigers have been left with a mammoth run-in which sees them play 11 games in 20 days.
After the Heat come to town on Friday, Garbelotto’s men travel to Worthing for a Saturday night game before returning to the ECHO Arena twice next week, on Wednesday against Sheffield (Mar 30) and Glasgow on Friday (Apr 1).
A trip to Guildford then follows next Saturday, before the final home game of the season against Sheffield on Tuesday April 5.
The Tigers finish the season with two pivotal matches against title rivals Newcastle and Sheffield, on April 6 and 8 respectively.
The club are urging as many people as possible to get down to the Arena for the final four home games of the season, to help cheer on the team to silverware.
