Nottingham Hoods travel to the Noel Baker Academy in Alvaston on Saturday as they face local rivals Derby Trailblazers in the NBL Division One with the winner potentially closing the gap on second placed Thames Valley Cavaliers in the table.

The Hoods are currently fourth with an identical record to third placed Derby (16-7) with both sides on 32 points from their 23 games played. The two teams met in December with Nottingham edging a close game by four points.

Thames Valley who travel to London Lions themselves have 34 points from their 24 matches with all the chasing pack well behind runaway leaders Team Solent Kestrels (21-2) who have 42 points.

Last time out the Hoods beat Leicester Warriors in a double headed weekend that saw the Warriors take Saturday’s game by 84-70. On Sunday the Hoods however got their own back with an 82-70 win thanks to a big 26 points from Logan Bailey and a healthy return of 20 from Morakinyo Williams.

In the WBBL Nottingham Wildcats are without a game this weekend as they next face unbeaten London Lions on March 26^th. The Wildcats were beaten last time out at Sheffield Hatters 87-80 and currently sit seventh in the table.

Finding things difficult in the women’s NBL Division One this season is Nottingham Trent University who are bottom of the table with one win and 19 losses.

NTU are in action this weekend with second bottom Reading Rockets in town. A win would reduce the deficit to four points on the side above as the Rockets have four victories from their nineteen played this season.

The male counterparts of NTU are fairing better in Division Two of the NBL as the Trent University Hoods are 9-12 and sitting sixth in the table of the Northern section. The University of Nottingham Wildcats are also mid-table in their division with an 8-6 record. The Wildcats beating Derbyshire Diamonds at the weekend, are next up against Sheffield Hatters seconds on Saturday.

*Main image @hoodsbasketball Nottingham celebrate their Sunday win against Leicester Warriors.