The much-anticipated clash between Brent Hobba and Simon Conn lived up to all expectations on Saturday night, with the BigV qualifying final going right down to the wire.

Hobba (10 points, 11 boards, two assists) and the Rangers raced out to take an early lead in the high-pressure game, and held onto a narrow margin for the entire first half to enter the main break 45-36 ahead.

But the Sabres came out fighting in the third term, with Simon Conn (14 points, six boards, one assist) and Joe Ingles (19 points, four rebounds, one assist) stepping up to outscore the Rangers 32-20 and establish their first lead of the night.

But despite their third quarter surge, the Sabres were powerless to stop the rampaging Rangers in the final term and the home side stormed out to a 90-81 win.

The Rangers next meet Hume City at home, while the Sabres will take on Waverley, who despite the loss of Matt Burston to injury, overcame the Melbourne Tigers by seven points on Saturday night.

In SEABL news, Matt Shanahan and the Ballarat Miners have ended their season on a high, defeating the highly fancied Southern District Spartans at the Minerdome on Saturday night.

After a turbulent season, the Miners edged their way into thirteenth spot on the SEABL ladder with a total of eight wins and 18 losses, including three wins in a row to round out the season.

For Shannon Seebohm the weekend brought no such good fortune, with the Emus sent packing from World Championship medal contention after a heartbreaking loss to Brazil.

The one-point loss in Friday’s do-or-die quarter final was the Emus’ only loss of the tournament, seeing them into fifth position overall.

Overnight, the Emus eased past Argentina by 24 points to claim fifth at the world event, finishing with an impressive 8-1 record.

The win-loss record was the second best posted by any team at the tournament, with only the loss to Brazil interrupting their winning streak.

Emus coach Marty Clarke said despite the team failing to medal at the world event, all members of the line-up had gained invaluable experience.

”The boys were fantastic tonight, they did a great job,” Emus coach Marty Clarke said.

“It really pushes your character traits to play at this level successfully and these guys have really bought into this and have worked just so hard.

“Everyone embraced their role and knew what they needed to do and they all did that little bit extra.

“We were disappointed after the Brazil game and if that last shot went one inch more to the left it would have missed but the thing is they will remember the experiences, the team spirit and their ability to stay together.”

Serbia took out the World Championship title overnight with a 74-69 victory over the United States.