It’s seems pretty simple if you’re the Hamilton Honey Badgers (8-9). Win on Saturday against Guelph (5-12), and you clinch the final playoff berth. Hamilton is 2-0 against Guelph this season and the Nighthawks are just one defeat away from being eliminated from postseason contention.

However, nothing has come easy for the struggling Honey Badgers.

(Tickets available at TicketMaster. Watch via CEBL TV or the CBC Gem App ).

It feels like it was an entirely differently season when these two teams met last. It was June 22 at Sleeman Centre. Hamilton defeated Guelph, 104-103 , with chaos on the court at the buzzer. The scorekeeper mistakenly posted too many points for the Nighthawks after a steal and a bucket. The videoboard showed a two-point win for the home team. Fans went wild and the Nighthawks piled on the tipoff circle. After the officials huddled together at the scorer’s table, the score was corrected, and the visiting Honey Badgers left town with its seventh win of the season (7-3) and was sitting comfortably in second place in the CEBL standings.

Since that night in Guelph, the Hamilton Honey Badgers have lost six of its past seven games and have fallen to fourth place in the standings, hanging on desperately to that last ticket to CEBL Championship Weekend. What’s scarier for Hamilton fans is that the team seems to have lost its mojo. They have lost these six games by an average of 14 points. Hamilton is scoring almost 10 points less per game (99.3 to 89.9) when comparing the first 10 games of the season to this current seven-game slide.

To make matters worse for the Honey Badgers, they play a Nighthawks team that is riding a high after a shocking 101-90 win over Niagara at Meridian Centre on Thursday night. The River Lions’ only other loss at home this season was against league-leading Edmonton. Guelph held Niagara to just 38 points in the second half, shooting just .390 (30-76) from the field while making just nine triples, its second-lowest output of the campaign.

While American Demetrius Denzel-Dyson has been struggling for Hamilton since the last meeting with the Nighthawks, averaging just 13.7 points over the past seven contests, he should be excited to see the blue uniform defend him again. The forward has averaged 23.0 points, while shooting .500 from beyond the arc in two games against Guelph this season. Teammate Sampson Carter enjoyed his most productive offensive game as a member of the Honey Badgers when he netted a season-high 25 points June 22 at Guelph.

With just three games remaining in the regular season for Hamilton, bench boss Chantal Vallée is running out of time to right the course. Back-to-back games against Guelph could seal the fate for both teams, and start to create some momentum for the Honey Badgers before the playoffs. Or they could continue to spiral and miss the postseason altogether. The math is easy. Win one and you’re in. However, nothing has come easy for this team over the past six weeks.

Tip-Off is 5PM ET.

June 5 at Hamilton: Hamilton 102, Guelph 96

Leading scorers: Guelph (J. Reynolds, 20), Hamilton (D. Denzel-Dyson, 22)

Leading rebounders: Guelph (C. Johnson / O. Famutimi, 5), Hamilton (R. Ejim, 12)

June 22 at Guelph: Hamilton 104, Guelph 103

Leading scorers: Guelph (M. Kabongo, 23), Hamilton (S. Carter, 25)

Leading rebounders: Guelph (M. Kabongo, 8), Hamilton (R. Ejim, 6)