Basketball: Lloyd key as Bullets face first play-off failure

The championship hopes of the Birmingham Bullets are in the hands of the Milton Keynes Lions' player-coach and their former player, Nigel Lloyd, as the two clubs chase the final play-off place for this weekend.

Lloyd, who spent seven years with the Bullets, will see his Lions side take the fourth and final place from the Southern Conference if they win at London Leopards this evening.

If they lose, the Bullets will still need to win their last two games, at the Thames Valley Tigers tonight and away to the Brighton Bears tomorrow to go through from the South with the London Towers, Brighton and the Leopards.

Tonight Brighton are away to the Chester Jets, who became the Northern Conference champions on Thursday, when the second-placed Sheffield Sharks lost 93-92 to the Edinburgh Rocks.

Edinburgh's win gave them the fourth place in the North and they go through to the quarter-finals with Chester, Sheffield and the Newcastle Eagles.

An added complication for the Bullets is that tomorrow night's opponents, Brighton, could still be playing for the Southern Conference title if they beat Chester tonight. The Bears could overhaul the leaders London Towers if the Towers lose their final game against the Leopards.

If the Bullets fail it will be the first time in the club's history they have not qualified for the play-offs. The Bullets' two Championship titles, in 1996 and 1998, were masterminded by Lloyd, who this season has already led the Lions to their first ever final, the BBL Trophy, which they lost to Chester. Lloyd said: "The Lions will just be happy to make the play-offs."

The Bullets' coach, Lance Randall, will share those sentiments after seeing his side's season slip away under the weight of injuries and a backlog of fixtures caused by their participation in the North European League and an early season tour to America.

The Bullets have lost seven of their last 10 Championship games and he admitted: "It is not looking too good for us right now."