The Braves (11-11) are in fifth place on the South East Australian Basketball League south conference ladder, just behind Saturday’s opponent North West Tasmania (11-10).

An NWT win on Saturday night would eliminate the Braves from play-off contention with one round remaining.

A victory for the Braves would put them in the box seat to finish fourth because NWT faces tough road games against third-placed Ballarat and top team Dandenong in its finals two games, while the Braves play bottom side Melbourne.

“The good thing is that when we’ve faced must-win games all year we keep winning big games,’’ Braves coach Ben Harvey said.

“We’ve been through some highs and lows, but when we need to step up we do it.

“It doesn’t get any better than this. This is a final for us.”

NWT defeated the Braves by just three points in Tassie earlier in the season.

Harvey said NWT’s parochial home crowd played a key role in that game.

“Their crowd really gave them a lift down the stretch in that game,’’ he said.

“We had a great crowd last week and we’d love to see a big crowd again this week to make a lot of noise and help us get the win.”

The Bendigo IGA Lady Braves also face a crucial home clash against Launceston. The Lady Braves (13-7) are trying to hold the Launceston Tornadoes (12-7) out of second spot and the double chance in the south conference play-offs.

The women’s game starts at 6pm at Bendigo Stadium, with the men’s match to follow at 8pm.