The Saint John Mill Rats will face the London Lightning in the National Basketball League of Canada's playoffs. (Saint John Mill Rats)The Saint John Mill Rats will face the London Lightning in the National Basketball League of Canada's playoffs. (Saint John Mill Rats)

The Saint John Mill Rats will make their post-season debut on Tuesday after a successful inaugural season with the National Basketball League of Canada.

The Mill Rats finished in fourth place in the seven-team league and will face the league’s top team, London Lightning, in the first round of the playoffs.

Ian McCarthy, the general manager of the Mill Rats and the chief operating officer of NBL Canada, said fans have bought into the new league, which he helped form last summer after stepping away from the Premier Basketball League.

The Mill Rats will host the Lightning in Game 1 on Tuesday before the best-out-of-three series moves to London.

The winner of that playoff series will face the winner of the Halifax Rainmen and Quebec Kebs series.

McCarthy said fans in the league’s seven cities were treated to a strong season.

The league is already looking at expansion next year.

He said he'd like to see the league eventually form eastern and western divisions.

“We have two teams in Ontario and if we can add two or three more teams out that way it would certainly make for a more balanced division and easier travel,” he said.

There are also teams in Moncton, Summerside and Oshawa.

The 36-game regular season started in October. McCarthy said the league has been a success in its seven markets.

“There's a lot of Canadian fans out there who have never seen this high level basketball in person, other than the [NBA’s Toronto] Raptors and they just embrace it,” he said.

“There's a number of markets primarily out in Ontario, possibly Ottawa, but we'll definitely see two to three new teams this summer.”

There has also been discussion about Fredericton landing a franchise.