Essex continued their hold on top spot, but the chasing pack refused to give them any breathing room after claiming successes of their own.
We take a look back at all of the weekend's action below, with links to live stats and live streams at the bottom of the page.
Essex took another step towards D1M glory with a solid 77-63 home win against Newcastle University.
The league leaders were clinical throughout, slowly growing an advantage that was boosted by a 19-9 second quarter before holding their opponents at arm's length the rest of the way.
Newcastle entered the game with a chance of moving into the title reckoning with a win but were blown off course as the visitors hit just 2/25 shots from long range on an evening that could have gone quite differently had a few of those shots landed.
Essex shared the load on offence for their tenth win of the season as Trey Chapman (17pts, 6reb), Victor Olarerin (15pts, 5reb) and Luke Busumbru (13pts, 5reb, 4ast) all did their bit.
Emmanuel Kanwei (21pts, 12reb) put up a double-double for Newcastle as the top scorer for either team, with Justin Hopkins (17pts, 8reb) also playing well.
D1M's top scorer going into the weekend Logan Rooney finished with 11 points but went 1-10 from beyond the arc as the visitors chased for a way to get back into the contest that they'd never find.
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It's on 🏆 pic.twitter.com/ZXRtmAB7DJ
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Derby Trailblazers (9-2) kept the pressure on Essex by adding further dismay to City of Birmingham Rockets (4-7), with a 101-72 final score.
Defeat extended CoB's winless streak to six, with DTB's Jonas Dieterich (18pts), Corey Johnson (17pts, 8ast), Sam Masten and Malcolm Smith (15pts each) all doing their bit on the road.
Reading Rockets (8-2) were made to work by bottom side Barking Abbey (0-12), winning 76-69 in a game that was tied inside the final minute.
Given the disparity in league position the game looked like it should have been a banker for the visitors but BA fought hard thanks to 16 points and 11 boards from Juan Manning before 16 points from Jermiah Jenkins and 14 apiece from Mitch Clarke and Christian Alexander finally got the Rockets over the line ahead of their National Cup Final clash with Milton Keynes this coming weekend.
Loughborough Riders (8-4) kept up their push for a top-four spot as they beat Bradford Dragons (4-8) 87-82.
With the score tied heading into the fourth, the game could have gone either way but 19 points from Elijah Bailey and Justin Hedley ensured the W would be going home with the Riders.
Ronald Blain had a game-high 23 points plus seven rebounds and three assists on his Bradford debut.
Hemel Storm (8-3) had no problem beating London Elite (2-10), putting the finishing touches on a 113-59 blowout thanks to 23 points from Brayden Inger.
Both teams held the lead more than once in the battle between Worthing Thunder (4-7) and Nottingham Hoods (7-6), but it was the Hoods who would triumph in a highly-competitive affair, 95-88.
Landon Taliaferro had a hefty 33-point, 10-rebound, seven assist effort for the hosts, cancelling out 28 points and nine boards from Worthing's Hafeez Abdul.
Barking Abbey 69-76 Reading Rockets - LIVE STATS
Bradford Dragons 82-87 Loughborough Riders - LIVE STATS
London Elite 113-59 Hemel Storm - LIVE STATS
Nottingham Hoods 95-88 Worthing Thunder - LIVE STATS
Essex Rebels 77-63 Newcastle University - LIVE STATS
City of Birmingham Rockets 72-101 Derby Trailblazers - LIVE STATS
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Main image credit - Kay Lu
