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December 2007 |
Earlier Reports: Sept. 07; Oct. 07;
Nov. 07;
Newcastle Eagles 109 (19,53,81) (Smith 24, Babalola
21, Bridge 19)
Team Birmingham Panthers 86 (17,29,59) (Sandell 20, Williams 17, Paternostro 15)
Newcastle Eagles moved themselves back to the top of the BBL Championship table thanks to a 109-86 victory over Team Birmingham Panthers at the Metro Radio Arena on Friday evening.
The Eagles led from tip to buzzer, and after a close opening period, the Eagles broke the game open with a 22-4 tear in the second period to take the score out to 50-26.
The second half saw another 7-0 run for the home side as they increased their lead to twenty points at 58-38. The home side enjoyed their biggest lead of the game midway through the third quarter off the back of a 10-0 burst to lead by thirty at 68-38.
The Panthers could not get themselves back into the game, despite closing the deficit in the final period, the Eagles ran out the comfortable winners.
Charles Smith led all scorers in the game with 24 points, but also pulled down 17 rebounds, and gave up 10 assists on his way to a triple-double. Daniel Sandell led the Panthers scoring with 20 points.
With the focus this week switched to the semi-finals of the BBL Cup, Everton Tigers were the team to take advantage with two victories in the BBL Championship. A 77-81 victory over the Sheffield Sharks at the Sheffield Arena on Wednesday night was followed up by a comfortable 93-77 victory over the BiG Storage Cheshire Jets at the Greenbank Leisure Centre on Friday evening.
Marshall MK Lions continued their rich vein of form, and followed up their 91-80 success over the Poujoulat Heat Guildford to reach the BBL Cup Final with a 73-67 victory over the Kularoos Plymouth Raiders at the Bletchley Leisure Centre on Sunday evening to move back to the top of the BBL Championship table.
In other BBL Championship action on Sunday, Guildford bounced back from their Cup exit to pick up a comfortable 109-67 victory over Team Birmingham Panthers at the Guildford Spectrum on Sunday afternoon, while the Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders kept their play-off push on track with a hard- fought 92-81 victory over the PAWS London Capital at the Capital City Academy on Sunday evening.
Poujoulat Heat Guildford 109
(35,58,78) (Wardrope 18, Nottley 16, D Williams 15)
Team Birmingham Panthers 67 (12,28,42) (A Williams 14, Paternostro/T Williams
11)
Poujoulat Heat Guildford bounced back from the disappointment of last night's BBL Cup semi-final defeat to Marshall MK Lions with a comfortable 109- 67 victory over Team Birmingham Panthers in the BBL Championship at the Guildford Spectrum on Sunday afternoon.
The home side exploded out of the blocks opening with a 15-2 run, including eleven points from Dan Wardrope. A further 18-3 tear towards the end of the opening period took the score out to 33-10.
The Panthers attempted to claw their way back into the game, and a 10-4 burst midway through the second quarter closed the deficit to 42-22, however, the Heat broke the game open with a 16-4 burst to close out the first half leading 58-28.
The second half saw the home side continue to pile on the points, and a 9-0 run towards the end of the third period took the lead out to thirty-nine points at 73-34.
The Heat enjoyed their biggest lead of the game midway through the final period at 103-60, and were able to see the remainder of the game out in comfortable fashion.
Wardrope led all scorers in the game netting 18
points for the Heat, while Adam Williams led the Panthers scoring with 14.
PAWS London Capital
81 (14,32,57) (Miller 21, Van Stein 17, Ogedengbe 15)
Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders 92 (14,41,58) (Woodyard/Wellington 22,
Greathouse 13)
Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders maintained their play-off push after securing a 92-81 victory over PAWS London Capital at the Captial City Academy on Sunday evening.
After a tight opening period which saw the sides tied at 14-14, the Riders opened up a thirteen point advantage thanks to an 11-0 run across the half-time interval to take the score out to 32-45.
An 18-5 response from the Capital, including nine points from Harvey Van Stein, saw the home side tie the game at 50-50, before a single free-throw from the Riders gave them a one point lead at 50-51 going into the final stanza.
In the final period, the Riders broke the game open with a 12-3 burst to take the score out to 69-84. London trimmed the deficit to ten points at 79-89 inside the last minute, but could get no closer as the visitors ran out eventual victors.
Terrence Woodyard and Roderick Wellington led all
scorers in the game netting 22 points a-piece for the Riders, while Wes Miller
led the Capital scorers with 21.
Marshall MK Lions
73 (22,43,57) (Y Williams 17, Brown 12, Jamison 10)
Kularoos Plymouth Raiders 67 (20,38,51) (Beasley 20, Moore 16, Lasker 10)
Marshall MK Lions leapfrogged over the Newcastle Eagles back to the top of the BBL Championship table thanks to a 73-67 victory over the Kularoos Plymouth Raiders at the Bletchley Leisure Centre on Sunday evening.
A close opening period saw the Lions leading 22-20, before a 6-2 start to the second quarter gave them an early 28-22 advantage. Three- pointers from Yorick Williams and Terrell Brown saw the Lions extend their lead to 40-29, but Plymouth began to claw their way back into the game, and trailed by five points at 43-38 going in at the half.
The second half saw Plymouth enjoy a 7-2 tear to start the third quarter and tie the game at 45-45, but another three-pointer from Williams kick-started a 9-0 burst for the Lions to take the score out to 54-45 midway through the period. The Lions maintained their lead through the rest of the quarter to lead 57-51 going into the final stanza.
In the final quarter, the Raiders desperately tried to close the deficit, and an 14-3 run towards the end of the game got the Raiders to within two points at 69-67 with one minute remaining, but Peter Heizer and Dru Spinks held their nerve to secure the victory for the Lions from the foul-line.
Williams led the scoring for the Lions netting 17 points, but it was DeAntoine Beasley who led all scorers with 20 points for the Riders.
Everton Tigers
93 (21,45,70) (Roberston 21, Midgley 18, Davis 15)
BiG Storage Cheshire Jets 77 (27,45,61) (Obazuaye 29, Myers 21, Owens 12)
verton Tigers kept up their recent impressive form with a comfortable 93-77 win over BiG Storage Cheshire Jets.
Great Britain point-guard Richard Midgley made his debut for the Tigers after completing his move from Newcastle Eagles and showed his new team what he is capable of with a superb second half display on his way to 18-points.
It was Tony Robertson who led the scoring for Everton though with 21 as they overturned a 21-27 first quarter deficit to be level at half time 45-45. And with Chris Haslem and Calvin Davis to the fore in the second half a 70-61 third quarter lead was extended throughout a dominant final quarter.
The injury hit Jets battled hard and guard Jayson Obazuaye led all-scorers on the night with 29- points.
The win was Everton's third in December and moves them within two points of reigning league champions Poujoulat Heat Guildford in fourth place.
Sheffield Sharks 77 (21,39,55) (Graham 22, Chaney
16, McKeithan 14)
Everton Tigers 81 (26,43,63) (Davis 28, Robertson 24, Haslam 9)
Everton Tigers leapfrogged over the Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders into seventh place in the BBL Championship after a hard-fought 77-81 victory over the Sheffield Sharks at the Sheffield Arena on Wednesday night.
After a tight opening to the quarter, the Tigers made the first break with runs of 8-2 and 6-1 to finish the opening period 21-26 to the good.
In the second quarter, a 9-4 start gave the visitors a healthy 25-35 lead, which they carried through for the majority of the period. The Sharks clawed their way back into it a a 5-0 finish to go in at the half trailing by five points at 39-43.
The second half saw the Tigers continue to stretch away, but they could not shake off a resiient Sharks team, who battled their way back into the game, and an 8-2 burst midway through the final quarter gave them a 69-68 lead.
Both sides traded baskets through the closing stages, and with the scores level at 75-75, Calvin Davis netted a long three-pointer with 40 seconds remaining to give the Tigers the lead 75-78. The sharks got to within two points at 77-79 with 25 seconds left, but another Davis bucket with less than ten seconds left gave the Tigers the all-important victory.
Davis led all scorers in the game with a personal tally of 28 points for the Tigers, while Justice Graham led the Sharks scoring with 22.
It was a good weekend for the top four in the BBL as they all got through their matches unbeaten.
Newcastle Eagles are once again top of the pile virtue of victories over Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders on Friday night in the north east and then on Saturday at PAWS London Capital.
Marshall MK Lions are level on points with the Eagles but second in the table. They had a double-celebration with Wednesday night's home win over Capital, which they followed up with a superb performance at Sheffield Sharks on Friday.
Reigning champions Poujoulat Heat Guildford put behind them their ULEB Cup defeat from Tuesday with at Worcester Wolves on Saturday to keep the pressure on the top three.
In third is Kularoos Plymouth Raiders. Gary Stronach's men made it a miserable week for Capital with an 83-60 win at the Pavilions.
Further down the table, Sheffield responded to their defeat against the Lions by sending Team Birmingham Panthers to the bottom of the league with a 66-98 win in the West Midlands.
It was the Panthers' second reverse of the weekend after they went down 94-76 at Everton Tigers. Tigers couldn't complete a back-to-back weekend though losing at the Riders on Saturday.
The action was concluded on Sunday evening in Chester as the BiG Storage Cheshire Jets were brought back to earth by 47-points from Worcester Wolves' James Life. Wolves 84-115 win moves them level on points with Everton for the final play-off spot.
BiG Storage Cheshire Jets 84 (17,37,65) (Obazuaye
30, Myers 21, Otten 14)
Worcester Wolves
115 (29,54,82) (Life 47, Paez 21, Harker 17)
After waiting almost a season and a half for an away win, Worcester Wolves made it two in a row with an 84-115 road victory at BiG Storage Cheshire Jets.
The Wolves were on top form throughout their roster but had a massive game from James Life to thank for the ease of the win. Life score 47-points, with 44 of them coming in the final three periods and 20 in the fourth quarter alone.
After leading 1-0 and 9-8 the Jets were never in front again as an 11-0 Wolves burst in the first quarter set the tone for the match. Ahead 17-29 after one and 37-54 at the half Wolves didn’t even flinch from a 28-point third quarter by the Jets.
With a 65-82 advantage heading into the fourth quarter, Life put on an exhibition of shooting to make the Wolves a serious play-off contender.
Kularoos Plymouth Raiders 83 (13,35,50) (Lasker
20, Beasley 14, Moore 14)
PAWS London Capital 60
(13,21,42) (Bradley 16, Miller 15, Ataha 9)
Kularoos Plymouth Raiders made it five league wins in a row with a comfortable 83-60 home triumph against PAWS London Capital. The result moves the Raiders within two points of leaders Newcastle Eagles and keeps Capital out of the play-off places.
After a tight opening first quarter, which was shared 13-13, the Raiders began to dominate at both ends of the court. Tight defence to keep Capital to eight second quarter points was complemented with 22 on offence to open up a 35-21 half time advantage.
Capital responded after the break to close to 35-32 but Raiders went away again to hold an eight-point cushion (50-42) heading into the final stanza. Plymouth once again turned up the heat to pull away from the Capital and seal the win.
Newcastle Eagles went back to the top of the BBL Championship table thanks to an 84-77 victory over the PAWS London Capital on Saturday evening. A 12- 0 tear from the Eagles in the final minutes of the game broke the game open, and gave them the all- important victory.
In other BBL Championship action, Sheffield Sharks got back to winning ways with a 98-66 victory over Team Birmingham Panthers. Poujoulat Heat Guildford bounced back from the ULEB Cup defeat in midweek with a comfortable 108-89 victory over the Worcester Wolves, and Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders defeated Everton Tigers 84-70.
Team Birmingham Panthers 66 (14,27,48) (A. Williams
16, Sandell 14, Popoola 13)
Sheffield Sharks 98 (31,55,73) (McKeithan 31, Graham 19, Virgil 16)
Sheffield Sharks got back to winning ways in the BBL Championship thanks to a convincing 66-98 victory over Team Birmingham Panthers at the University of Wolverhampton, Walsall Campus on Saturday evening.
The Sharks led from the outset, and dominated the game early on with a 16-6 opening to the contest. The Sharks continued on their way throughout the first half, and were helped by some outstanding team three-point shooting hitting 8 from 14 attempts in the first half to help them to a 27-55 half-time lead.
The second half was played in much the same way as the first with the Sharks steadily increasing their lead over their hosts. The Panthers could only get as close as twenty-one points in the final period at 59-80 as the Sharks ran out comfortable winners.
Adam Williams led the Panthers scoring with 16 points, while Raymond McKeithan
led all scorers in the game with a highly impressive 31-point haul for the
Sharks.
Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders 84 (23,43,61)
(Wellington 18, Woodyard 14, Janiska 13)
Everton Tigers
70 (19,38,52) (Haslam 17, Aliu/Davis 16)
Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders moved themselves back into the play-off hunt in the BBL Championship thanks to an 84-70 victory over the Everton Tigers at the John Sanford Centre on Saturday evening.
Both sides traded baskets for the majority of the opening period, before the visitors enjoyed a 6-0 burst to lead 17-19, but the Riders immediately responded with a 6-0 run of their own to end the first quarter 23-19 in front.
The second period again saw both sides trading baskets, and it was again the home side who maintained the upper hand, leading 43-38 going in at the half. The second half saw both sides enjoying success from an offensive stand-point with the Tigers tieing the game at 43-43 at the start of the third quarter.
The Riders responded with a 9-0 tear of their own to take the score out to 52- 43, before the Tigers netted the next six points to trim the deficit back to three points at 52-49. Another 9-0 run from the Riders, followed by a three-pointer from Everton's Tony Robertson on the buzzer saw the home side taking a nine point lead at 61-52 into the final stanza.
Four points from Chris Haslam to start the final period bought the Tigers to within five points at 61-56, but the Riders stayed strong, and a 6-0 burst took the score out to 73-63. The Tigers valiantly attempted to get themselves back into the game, but the Riders made sure of the victory with an 8-1 tear to close out the game 84-70.
Rod Wellington led all scorers in the game with 18 points, while Haslam led the
Tigers scoring with 17.
PAWS London Capital 77 (15,35,59) (Bradley 26, Ogedengbe 10, Van Stein 9)
Newcastle Eagles 84 (23,45,64) (Midgley
25, Smith 17, Bridge 11)
Newcastle Eagles went back to the top of the BBL Championship table thanks to a 77-84 victory over the PAWS London Capital at the Capital City Academy on Saturday evening.
The Eagles started strongly, and leapt out to an early 11-4 lead, but the Capital got themselves back into it with a 5-2 burst of their own to get the score back to 15-18, but the visitors netted the next five points to lead 15-23 at the end of the first quarter.
The Eagles maintained their lead throughout the second period, and took a ten-point lead at 35-45 at the half-time break.
The third quarter saw the home side start to claw their way back into the game, and Sam Bradley got the Capital back to within five points at 54-59, and they stayed within five at 59-64 going into the final stanza.
In the final period, a four- point play from Bradley, and a two from Tayo Ogedengbe gave the home side the lead at 69-67 with 3.47 remaining. The game was broken open by the Eagles with a 12-0 tear to take the score out to 69- 79 with less than one minute remaining in the game. The Capital tried to close the gap, but the Eagles held on for the victory.
Richard Midgley led the Eagles scoring with 25 points, but it was Bradley who
led all scorers in the game with 26 points for the Capital.
Worcester Wolves
89 (24,52,69) (Life 18, Durrant 17, Evans/Harker 16)
Poujoulat Heat Guildford 108 (28,48,78) (Dorsey 27, Martin 25, Gilbert 20)
Poujoulat Heat Guildford leapfrogged over the SAMG Verve Scottish Rocks into fourth place in the BBL Championship table thanks to a comfortable 108-89 victory over the Worcester Wolves at Worcester University on Saturday evening.
After a close opening, the Heat enjoyed an early 9-0 to lead 9-19, but the Wolves responded with a 13-2 tear of their own to take the lead back at 22-21 towards the end of the first quarter. The second period saw the Wolves take the lead at 38-35 off the back of a 10-0 burst midway through the period, and the home side held a four- point advantage at 52-48 going into the locker rooms at the half.
The second half saw the sides trading baskets throughout the majority of the third quarter, but the visitors broke the game open with an 8-2 finish to the period to lead 69-78 going into the final stanza.
The Heat maintained their advantage throughout the final period, and despite a 7-0 tear from the Wolves to get the score back to 89-105, the visitors held on to secure the all-important victory.
Tony Dorsey led all scorers in the game for the Heat netting 27 points personal, while James Life led the Wolves scoring with 18.
Everton Tigers
94 (27,48,71) (Davis 24, Robertson 22, Aliu 18)
Birmingham Panthers 76 (22,42,55) (A. Williams 23, Sandell 13, L.Williams 13)
The Everton Tigers propelled themselves up the BBL Championship table, into seventh and the playoff places, with a 94-76 defeat of the Team Birmingham Panthers on Friday night.
The Tigers were led by 24 points from Calvin Davis and 22 from Tony Robertson, with David Aliu contributing 18 points. Adam Williams led the response with 23 points in vain.
The home team led from the early stages, but at 27-22 after the first ten minutes and 48-42 at half time, the game remained close.
Everton stamped their authority on the game in the third period as the combination of Davis on the inside, and Robertson driving to the basket, helped them to outscore their opposition 23-13.
The Panthers could not get much closer in the fourth quarter as they lost their sixth game in succession. For the Tigers, it was their third win in four games, and the second time that they have beaten the Panthers by this scoreline.
Newcastle Eagles
104 (26,53,75) (Midgley 20, Stewart 18, Flournoy 15)
Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders 88 (24,43,66) (McKnight 21, Greathouse 15,
Burns/Woodyard 14)
The Newcastle Eagles remained in second place in the BBL Championship table, as the Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders slipped to tenth, as the Eagles beat their rivals from the East Midlands by 104-88 at the MetroRadio Arena.
For Newcastle, it was the ninth win in the last ten games against the Riders, and they were led to it by Richard Midgley's 20 points; Lynard Stewart added 18, whilst Fab Flournoy scored 15. The Riders were led by 21 points from Chad McKnight.
The first quarter was tight, as a pair of long range three-pointers from Kyle Greathouse kept the visitors in touch at 26-24 after the opening ten minutes. The Eagles stretched their lead in the second as a 9-0 burst broke a tie to make it 40-31, and a pair of Andrew Bridge triples saw the half end with the hosts up 53-43.
Further long range shooting from the Riders narrowed the deficit in the third quarter as treys from McKnight and two from Greathouse made it 65-59 and ensured that Leicester went into the decisive stanza with a shot at the upset.
However, 7/8 early free-throws maintained
Newcastle's lead, before the game was settled by an 11-2 surge with 4:00 to go.
Midgley provided the spark late on with 6 points and multiple assists as
Newcastle picked up their tenth win of the campaign.
Sheffield Sharks 69 (15,31,47) (McKeithan 19, Virgil
17, Lyons 9)
Marshall MK Lions 80 (21,42,68) (Williams 23, Brown 12, Windless 9)
The Marshall MK Lions retained their position at the top of the BBL Championship table as they beat the Sheffield Sharks 69-80 at the English Institute of Sport. It was their first win in the last eight attempts against the Sharks, a spell going back over two years.
Leading scorer Yorick Williams led the way with 23 points, whilst point guard Terrell Brown added 12. Raymond McKeithan led the hosts with 19 points.
The Lions took an early lead after back-to-back baskets from Shawn Jamison made the score 6-11, only for the Sharks to respond through an Alto Virgil three-pointer and two baskets from McKeithan to snatch the lead at 13-11. However, the Lions scored the last 8 points of the first period, 5 from Brown and a triple from Williams, to gain a 15-21 advantage.
Locker Okorie narrowed the gap with a put-back that made it 24-27 in the second, but Williams was there again with a three-pointer to spark a further 8 unanswered points, that was part of a 15-6 run that sent the Lions into the half 31-42 in front.
A 26-16 third quarter pushed the lead out further, and Williams settled the game with a triple to end the third stanza with a score of 47-68. Whilst the Sharks narrowed the gap late on, they could not threaten the rampant league-leaders.
Marshall MK Lions 89
(22,50,67) (New 20, Y. Williams 17, Grffin/Windless 10)
PAWS London Capital 70 (14,28,48) (F. Williams 20, Bradley 13, Miller 11)
The Marshall MK Lions went top of the BBL Championship table after an 89-70 home defeat of the PAWS London Capital gave them their seventh win in their last eight league games, and wrapped up the season series with this opposition in the process.
It was the second time in ten days that the Lions have beaten Capital, after knocking them out of the BBL Cup at the quarter-final stage towards the end of November.
Mike New led the scoring for the victors with 20 points, whilst Yorick Williams netted 17 on the night. For the Capital, Fred Williams matched New's game-high 20 points.
The Lions were in control from the outset as big man Shawn Jamison scored the opening basket and his team never trailed. They soon moved out to a 13-6 lead before a Yorick Williams three-pointer gave the Lions a 22-14 cushion after the opening ten minutes.
A 9-3 opening to the second stanza highlighted the Lions' dominance on their home floor, where they are 6-2 on the season so far, and when a Kevin Griffin triple sparked a 14-2 surge the score became 45-24 and put the game beyond the Londoners.
The Capital reduced the deficit in the third period inspired by 8 points from Fred Williams but were still 67-48 down going into the fourth. Captain Dru Spinks and Yorick Williams saw the Lions home as they combined to score their team's last 14 points.
The league-leading Newcastle Eagles had their ten game winning run halted at the hands of their biggest rivals, the SAMG Verve Scottish Rocks, after a 92-73 defeat in the season's second 'Battle of the Border' at the Braehead Arena on Sunday. It was the third consecutive win for the Rocks, their seventh in eight games, and was the perfect preparation for the BBL Cup semi-final clash between the sides on Saturday 15th December. The win also saw the Rocks climb ahead of the Guildford Heat and Sheffield Sharks into fourth in the BBL Championship table.
Meanwhile, the Kularoos Plymouth Raiders kept up the pressure on the Eagles at the summit of the BBL Championship table with a comprehensive 71-57 defeat of the Sheffield Sharks on Saturday. The Raiders, who were missing leading scorer Drew Lasker and relied on their defence - which is the sternest in the BBL - looked to Anthony Martin to ignite a decisive third quarter run of 14-4 that put the game beyond the Sharks, who consequentially slipped to sixth in the table.
The rest of this week's games took place at the other end of the table, with a host of the teams competing for the last few BBL Championship Playoff positions scrapping it out with one another.
The Wolves had the best of it as they rid themselves of two unwanted records with a 79-92 defeat of the Everton Tigers and a 95-72 win over the Birmingham Panthers. The former representing their first away win in the BBL Championship, and a win in the latter on Saturday night meaning that they recorded back-to-back BBL victories for the first time.
The BiG Storage Cheshire Jets snapped a three-game losing streak when they beat the Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders 80-93 on Saturday night, with the duo of Shawn Myers (25) and Jayson Obazuaye (21) doing most of the damage, enabling them to hold on to seventh place in the table.
However, they couldn't follow that up as they fell to their fifth home defeat of the season in losing 69-82 to the PAWS London Capital, a win which put the London side level with them in the BBL Championship. Wes Miller and Tayo Ogedengbe held the Jets off in the fourth quarter as the Capital gained revenge for two previous defeats to TJ Walker's side.
The fourth East vs. West Midlands derby of the season went the same way as all of the others, with the Riders defeating the Birmingham Panthers by 79-85 after a Kyle Greathouse three-pointer in the fourth quarter proved to be decisive in their climb to ninth place in the table.
Team Birmingham Panthers
79 (22,34,60) (L. Williams 21, Sandell 20, A. Williams 13)
Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders 85 (13,39,60) (McKnight 19, Greathouse 17,
Lamble 16)
The Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders continued their dominance of the East vs. West Midlands derby as they scored their fourth victory of the season over the Team Birmingham Panthers, 79-85 on Sunday night.
Chad McKnight had 19 points in the game, whilst Kyle Greathouse had most of the significant scores on his way to 17 and former Birmingham player Barry Lamble had 16. Lataryl Williams led the resistance with 21 for the Panthers.
The home side controlled the game early on and, midway through the second quarter, they extended a 22-13 first period lead to 30-19, which was the largest lead of the game.
From that point, Greathouse netted 8 points in his contribution to a 20-4 surge that turned the game on its head and sent the Riders into the break in front at 34-39.
The lead didn't last long as the Panthers snatched it back at 53-51 in the third after good work from former Rider Daniel Sandell, as the teams were tied at 60 going into the decisive stanza.
Once in the fourth, Birmingham had edged in front
at 70-69 before a Greathouse triple gave the visitors the lead for good. They
extended that to 80-71 and, despite two late three-pointers from Sandell, held
on for the victory. That moved the Riders up to ninth in the table and condemned
the Panthers to last place.
BiG Storage Cheshire Jets 69 (16,43,53) (Obazuaye 23, Myers 22, Otten 17)
PAWS London Capital 82
(27,46,60) (Williams 16, Bradley 15, Miller 14)
The PAWS London Capital avenged two previous defeats to the BiG Storage Cheshire Jets this season with a 69-82 road win at the Northgate Arena.
The victors spread their scoring on the night as Fred Williams notched 16 points, 10 in the first quarter, with Sam Bradley scoring 15 and Wes Miller adding 14. Jayson Obazuaye scored 23 points in vain for the Jets to lead all scorers.
The hosts quickly shot out to a 4-0 lead before the Capital responded with 12 unanswered points. London moved out to a strong 16-27 lead by the end of the first period, with Wes Miller connecting on two three-pointers and Fred Williams scoring 10 early points.
The Jets came storming back in the second quarter as a 10-4 start cut the deficit to 26-31, and a further 10-4 run gave them the lead at 38-37, with Shawn Myers notching 12 points during that period. However, the visitors closed out the half with 4 points from Tayo Ogedengbe and a triple from Miller to regain the lead at 43-46.
After a scrappy third quarter the Capital had pulled away to a 53-60 lead. Seven of their fourteen points came from the free-throw line, whilst the Jets could muster just 10 points in the quarter.
The Jets scored the first basket of the fourth
period, but could get no closer as a further three-pointer from Miller and 7
points from Ogedengbe kept them at arm's length. A 13-6 run put the lead at what
proved to be an insurmountable 61-76. Jayson Obazuaye tried to inspire his team
with 10 fourth quarter points but it wasn't enough as London moved level with
the Jets in the BBL Championship table.
SAMG Verve Scottish Rocks 92 (20,51,75) (Yanders 29, Joseph 20, Davis 18)
Newcastle Eagles
73 (18,40,57) (Midgley 18, Smith 16, Stewart 12)
The SAMG Verve Scottish Rocks notched their most impressive victory of the season so far as a 92-73 win over the Newcastle Eagles moved them up to fourth in the BBL Championship table, ending the Eagles' ten-game winning streak in the process.
Rob Yanders sank five three-pointers on his way to a game-high 29 points, supported by 20 points from Julius Joseph. GB star Richard Midgley led the Eagles with 18 points.
The teams had played out a double-overtime game earlier in the season and the opening to this game threatened more of the same. The Eagles edged the early exchanges and soon led 4-8, before a strong finish to the quarter saw the hosts snatch the lead at 18-14 and go on to lead 20-18 after the opening ten minutes.
The Eagles posted an early 7-0 burst in the second stanza to go back ahead at 23-27, but a Julius Joseph triple gave the Rocks the lead for good at 28-27; that was part of a 10-0 surge that ended with them 33-27 in front. The Rocks had a further 9-0 push that stretched the lead to 49-35, which became 51-40 at the half-way point.
There was no respite for the league-leading Eagles in the third period as the Rocks moved out to 69-51 with 3:00 left.
The lead peaked at 22 in the fourth quarter as a Rob Yanders three-pointer made it 84-62 before they eased to the victory.
Kularoo Plymouth Raiders moved themselves level on points with Newcastle Eagles at the top of the BBL Championship table thanks to a convincing 71-57 victory over the Sheffield Sharks on Saturday evening. A 14-5 tear at the start of the second half broke the game open taking the score out to 48-26.
In other BBL Championship action, the BiG Storage Cheshire Jets picked up an important 93-80 over the Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders, and Worcester Wolves defeated the Team Birmingham Panthers by a score of 95-72.
Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders 80
(20,30,49) (Janiska 19, Wellington/Lamble/Burns 12)
BiG Storage Cheshire Jets
93 (28,51,65) (Myers 25, Obazuaye 21, Murphy 11)
BiG Storage Cheshire Jets moved above Everton Tigers into seventh place in the BBL Championship table after a 93-80 victory over the Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders at the John Sanford Centre on Saturday evening.
The visitors made the stronger start, and bursts of 6-0 and 8-0 in the opening period gave them a 26-15 lead towards the end of the quarter, and held that lead at 28-20 at the end of the period.
The game was broken open right at the start of the second quarter when the Jets exploded out of the blocks with a 15-2 run to take the score out to 43- 22. The Jets maintained their lead at 51-30 going in at the half.
The second half saw the Riders begin to claw their way back into the game, and a 7-0 run got them to within eleven points at 70-59 at the start of the final quarter. A further 9-0 burst got the Riders even closer at 84-75 with less than two minutes remaining, but the Jets held on for the all-important victory.
Mindaugas Janiska led the Riders scoring with 19
points, but it was Shawn Myers led all scorers netting 25 points for the Jets.
Kularoos Plymouth Raiders 71 (17,34,57) (Durham 17, Martin 15, Gall/Moore 13)
Sheffield Sharks
57 (14,22,38) (Graham 18, Chaney 10, George/Virgil 7)
Kularoos Plymouth Raiders moved themselves into second place, and level on points with Newcastle Eagles at the top of the BBL Championship table after a convincing 71-57 victory over the Sheffield Sharks at the Plymouth Pavilions on Saturday evening.
After a close opening quarter, the Raiders enjoyed a 9-2 tear in the second quarter to close out the first half at 34- 22.
A 14-4 burst to open the second half for the Raiders took the score out to 48-26, and the home side continued to press home their advantage as they restricted the Sharks to 16 points in the third period to lead 57-38 going into the final stanza.
The Sharks attempted to claw their way back into the game, but they could not close the deficit sufficiently as the home side ran out eventual winners.
Terrence Durham led the Raiders scoring with 17
points personal, but it was Justice Graham led all scorers with 18 points for
the Sharks.
Worcester Wolves
95 (24,56,74) (Gayle 21, Paez 18, Harker 16)
Team Birmingham Panthers 72 (22,41,55) (Popoola/Williams 17, Sandell 16)
Worcester Wolves picked up their fourth victory of the BBL Championship campaign thanks to a 95-72 win over Team Birmingham Panthers at the University of Worcester on Saturday evening.
After a close opening period, which the Wolves edged 24-22, the second period saw the Wolves break the game open with a 13-0 tear to take the score out to 46-35 midway through the period. The home side increased their advantage over the Panthers to fifteen points at 56-41 going into the locker rooms at half time.
The second half saw Worcester open with a 5-0 tear to lead 61- 41. The Panthers valiantly fought to get themselves back in the game, but the Wolves closed out the third period with a 9-0 burst to lead 74-55 going into the final stanza.
The fourth quarter saw the Wolves continue to increase their advantage over a tiring Panthers defence, and eventually ran out comfortable victors.
Michael Gayle led all scorers with 21 points for the Wolves, while Lekan Popoola and Adam Williams combined to lead the Panthers scoring with 17.