1976–77 National Basketball League season
# 1976–77 National Basketball League season

The 1976–77 Guinness National Basketball League season was the fifth season of the National Basketball League.

The league was sponsored by Guinness and the number of teams participating remained at ten. The Embassy All-Stars relocated to Milton Keynes, Cleveland became Durham and Bedford replaced Leeds.

The Crystal Palace team completed a second consecutive double of National League and Cup and were beginning to achieve national public recognition. There were no playoffs for the League during this era and Carl Olsson was awarded the season MVP award.

## National League

### First Division

| Pos | Team | P | W | L | F | A | Pts |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Cinzano Crystal Palace | 18 | 18 | 0 | 1869 | 1351 | 36 |
| 2 | Manchester ATS Giants | 18 | 15 | 3 | 1598 | 1414 | 33 |
| 3 | Milton Keynes Embassy All-Stars | 18 | 12 | 6 | 1605 | 1398 | 30 |
| 4 | Doncaster Wilson Panthers | 18 | 12 | 6 | 1552 | 1487 | 30 |
| 5 | Coventry Team Fiat | 18 | 10 | 8 | 1669 | 1528 | 28 |
| 6 | Bowmer & Kirkland Loughborough All-Stars | 18 | 8 | 10 | 1476 | 1523 | 26 |
| 7 | Wicksteed-Magnet Metros | 18 | 7 | 11 | 1506 | 1521 | 25 |
| 8 | Bedford Vauxhall Motors | 18 | 4 | 14 | 1479 | 1680 | 22 |
| 9 | Avenue | 18 | 3 | 15 | 1207 | 1553 | 21 |
| 10 | Durham StrongArm Aycliff | 18 | 1 | 17 | 1439 | 1945 | 19 |

### Second Division

| Pos | Team | P | W | L | F | A | Pts |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Stockport Belgrade | 20 | 18 | 2 | 1673 | 1358 | 38 |
| 2 | Exeter St Lukes All Stars | 20 | 18 | 2 | 1801 | 1467 | 38 |
| 3 | Miles Mustangs | 20 | 13 | 7 | 1805 | 1703 | 33 |
| 4 | EPAB Sunderland | 20 | 13 | 7 | 1646 | 1485 | 33 |
| 5 | Birmingham Bulldogs | 20 | 11 | 9 | 1607 | 1552 | 31 |
| 6 | Seense Oxford Sonics | 20 | 10 | 10 | 1538 | 1477 | 30 |
| 7 | KCA Bury | 20 | 8 | 12 | 1687 | 1722 | 28 |
| 8 | Malory Lewisham | 20 | 7 | 13 | 1622 | 1709 | 27 |
| 9 | Nottingham | 20 | 6 | 14 | 1567 | 1821 | 26 |
| 10 | Derby CFE | 20 | 4 | 16 | 1368 | 1522 | 24 |
| 11 | Leeds Larsen Lions | 20 | 2 | 18 | 1410 | 1944 | 22 |

## National Cup Final

| Cinzano Crystal Palace | 91–90 | Milton Keynes Embassy All-Stars |
| - | - | - |
| Pts: Mark Saiers 26, Paul Philp 20, Jim Guymon ??, Vic Tinsley ?? | | Pts: Pete Sprogis 29, Earl Hogue 22, Jerry Walker 17, Stuart Turpie, John Belk |

* Wembley

## Leading scorers

| Player | Team | Pts |
| - | - | - |
| Allen Bunting | Metros | 539 |
| Jim Guymon | Crystal Palace | 500 |
| Darnell Harrell | Coventry | 494 |
| Kenny Pemberton | Bedford | 403 |
| Earl Hogue | Embassy All-Stars | 402 |
| Mark Saiers | Crystal Palace | 392 |
| Wayne Metzger | Doncaster | 387 |
| Jeff Jones | Manchester | 362 |
| Jerry Walker | Embassy All-Stars | 357 |
| John Miller | Manchester | 356 |
