The Castec Rural Pioneers return to the Wulanda Recreation and Convention Centre tomorrow night as they take the court against the Eltham Wildcats in Round 8 of the NBL1 South Conference.


Heading into this game the Pioneers are currently first in the NBL1 South Conference with a record of 9-2 and a win streak of five in a row.


Eltham are a middle of the road team as they sit 12th with an even record of 5-5.


Eltham have a fairly solid offence as they average 90 points per game and they also have a solid roster with plenty of NBL talent.


Owen Foxwell and Angus Glover have been huge for them so far this season with Foxwell averaging 20 points per game and Glover averaging 19.


The Wildcats have also picked up a solid US import in Ralph Bissainthe.


Bissainthe has been a big contributor for them as he is averaging 16 point a game and leading the team in rebounds and blocks.


For the Pioneers to get the win tomorrow night they will need to start strong and get out to a good lead early, repeating what they have been doing during their past few games.


Some important players for the Pioneers will be once again Nick Marshall who will need to be a reliable scorer and Christian Peevy who has found some good form in recent weeks and is starting to flourish in his new team.


Head coach Richard Hill believes that Eltham’s solid roster will make for a tough game for the home team tomorrow night.


“Eltham are very, very good on personnel, half a dozen of the best Melbourne teams that are very good have NBL players, plus imports and Eltham are one of those,” he said.


“They have got three NBL guys in their guard spots at the one, two and three and they have an import in the four and the five spot.


“They are not that deep but their first five are pretty damn good.”