Finals Weekend Schedule Confirmed

After the BBL Championship's top four sides made it safely through to the BBL Finals Weekend, the schedule of games for Saturday's semi-finals has been confirmed.

The day's first clash, at 3.30pm, will see the first-placed Newcastle Eagles taking on the Marshall MK Lions in a repeat of January's BBL Cup Final at the National Indoor Arena.

They will be followed on court by the second-placed Guildford Heat facing off with the Kularoos Plymouth Raiders - it will be the sixth time that the teams have met this season including the pre-season Cup Winners' Cup.

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BBL Championship Play-off Quarter Final

Guildford Heat 81 (29,39,56) (Martin 25, Gilbert 23, Harrison 12)
Everton Tigers 72 (20,39,57) (Davis 15, Midgley 14, Herriman 13)

Guildford Heat became the final team to progress through to the semi-finals of the BBL Championship play-offs thanks to an 81-72 victory over the Everton Tigers at the Spectrum on Sunday afternoon.

The Heat started strongly netting the opening seven points of the game. They increased their lead off the back of a 16-4 burst towards the end of the opening period to take the score out to 26-13.

The second quarter saw Mike Martin open the scoring with a three-pointer for the Heat, but the Tigers rattled off a 19-5 tear to take the lead at 34-39 with a minute remaining in the half. Baskets from Daniel Gilbert and a three from James Jones for the Heat tied the game at 39-39 at the half.

The second half saw the Heat open with a 10-3 run to take the score out to 49-42, but the Tigers responded immediately with a 13-5 burst to take a one-point lead at 54-55. The visitors held on to the slender lead at 56-57 going into the final stanza.

In the final quarter, the Tigers continued to hold a slender lead at 62-64. The Heat broke the game open with a 19-6 tear, including ten points from Martin, took the score out to 81-70 with twenty seconds remaining. A Tony Robertson dunk as time expired for the Tigers was not enough to prevent the Heat qualifying for the Final Four.

Martin led all scorers in the game with 25 points, as well as 10 rebounds. Calvin Davis led the Tigers scoring with 15.

BBL Championship Play-off Quarter Final

Kularoos Plymouth Raiders 91 (23,45,64) (Beasley 26, Lasker 22, Moore 18)
Sheffield Sharks 73 (16,38,54) (Whyte 16, Chaney 14, Ant. Virgil 12)

The Kularoos Plymouth Raiders have made it to the BBL Finals Weekend for the first time in their history after overcoming the Sheffield Sharks 91-73 at Plymouth Pavilions.

It is the first time in eight years that the Sharks have not featured in the final four of the BBL Championship Playoffs.

The first three playoff games have gone according to form as sides from the top four have progressed on each occasion. In this game, the Raiders beat the Sharks for the third time this season and ensured that they go into Finals Weekend with momentum after notching their third straight win.

DeAntoine Beasley returned from a shoulder injury to lead the way with 26 points, supported by 22 from Drew Lasker and 18 from Gaylon Moore. James Whyte led the resistance with 16 points.

There was a tight start to the contest as the teams who finished third and sixth in the BBL Championship traded blows; a James Whyte triple saw the game tied at 9-9 in the first quarter. The Raiders then posted the first run of the game as Drew Lasker triples started and finished a 14-4 burst that saw them leading 23-13 late in the first.

The Raiders continued in the same vein in the second stanza as a 12-5 opening made it 35-21, and tempers were flaring amongst the Sharks as Atiba Lyons was called for a technical foul. However, Sheffield composed themselves and notched a 12-5 push to narrow the deficit to 45-38 at half time.

The visitors then held their hosts scoreless for the opening 2:45 of the third quarter as the score became 45-40. From there the Raiders scored the next 7 points, including a triple from DeAntoine Beasley who was returning from an injury suffered against the Sharks some weeks ago. The Raiders led 52-40 and kept it in double-figures for the remainder of the game.

When 'The Greens' opened the decisive quarter with an 8-0 burst, capped by a triple from Allister Gall, they led 72-54 and would not allow the Sharks to get much closer. Sheffield hit a series of three-pointers late in the game but the Raiders maintained their poise from the free-throw line to book their place at the biggest event in British basketball.

Newcastle Eagles 105 (23,52,78) (Babalola 21, Defoe 20, Leven 15)
Worcester Wolves 96 (18,51,67) (Life 29, Paez 24, Harker 20)

Three-time play-off champions Newcastle Eagles are back in the Final Four again after holding off a spirited performance by Worcester Wolves on Tyneside.

After four consecutive overtime matches to end the regular season the Eagles didn't need an extra period to see off the Wolves but it was still a lengthy game with both sides suffering with foul trouble.

Eagles never trailed during a first quarter which they led 23-18 after ten minutes. A 4-0 run at the start of the second period opened up the night's first serious lead at 27-18 before Wolves began to fight back.

A 12-0 burst handed the visitors their first lead of the night at 40-43 but it wouldn't last for long as Eagles battled back to go in at half time 52-51 in front.

The match still hung in the balance deep into the third quarter until the Eagles suddenly broke it open. From 64-63 a 12-0 burst with five from Steve Leven and four from Ola Babalola helped Newcastle head into the final stanza 78-67 up.

Although the Wolves battled hard, and Newcastle lost several key players through fouls, the closest they could get was 89-82 on the back of two James Life free throws.

It was Life who led all-scorers with 29 while Babalola paced the Eagle effort with 21.

Marshall MK Lions became the first team to secure a semi-final berth in the BBL Championship Play-offs after a 105-93 victory over the SAMG Verve Scottish Rocks at the Bletchley Leisure Centre on Wednesday evening live on Setanta Sports.

Both sides traded baskets in the early exchanges, but it was the Rocks who took the early ascendancy with an 8-0 burst to lead 10-17.

A Dru Spinks three-pointer, and four points from Michael New bought the Lions back immediately to 17-17.

The Lions scored five of the first seven points at the start of the second period to take the score out to 32- 24. The home side continued to pull away and led 43- 34 midway through the quarter, but the Rocks bought the deficit to two points at 45-43 off the back of a 9-2 burst.

The Lions held a slender three-point advantage at 53-50 going in at the half.

The second half saw both sides trading baskets in the early going before the Lions went on a decisive 11-6 tear to take the score out to 71-63. They held on to take a 75-68 lead into the final stanza.

In the final quarter, the Lions continued to take charge, and three-pointers from Tony Windless and Yorrick Williams gave the home side an 89-76 lead.

The Rocks began to resort to fouling the Lions to send them to the foul-line, but the Lions maintained their cool, and netted 12/14 free throws in the closing stages to secure the victory.

Williams was the leading scorer on the night with 27 points for the Lions, while Sterling Davis led the Rocks scoring with 24.

Team Birmingham Panthers 71 (15,36,46) (Williams/Sandell 18, Jules 17)
Everton Tigers 113 (36,58,87) (Aliu 24, Robertson 23, Davis 20)

Everton Tigers finished off their inaugral BBL Championship campaign in emphatic fashion with a 71-113 victory over Team Birmingham Panthers at the John Sanford Centre on Saturday evening.

The Tigers broke the game open from the outset outscoring the Panthers 23-7 in the opening minutes. The Panthers tried valiantly to claw the deficit back, and got back to within twenty-two points at 36-58 at the half.

The Tigers put the result beyond any doubt as they started the second half in much the same vein as the first with a 27-5 burst to take the score out to 41-85. The Panthers had no response for the Tigers offense as the visitor ran out comfortable winners.

David Aliu led all scorers in the game with 24 points for the Tigers, while Adam Williams top-scored for the Panthers with 18 points personal.

Worcester Wolves 82 (18,37,62) (Paez 20, Life/Evans 15)
PAWS London Capital 84 (21,36,55) (Bradley 21, Gariba 18, Knight 10)

Worcester Wolves suffered a minor set-back going into next week's BBL play-off quarter-final after an 82- 84 defeat at the hands of the PAWS London Capital at Worcester University on Saturday evening.

The Capital started the stronger and opened up an early 11-2 burst, but the Wolves responded immediately with a 16-7 tear of their own to bring the score back to 18-19. The remainder of the first half saw both sides trading baskets and it was the Wolves who went in at the half with their noses in front by a score of 37-36.

The second half saw the Wolves attempt to put some distance between them and their opponents with a 7- 0 run to take the score out to 60-50. The Capital fought back and scored ten of the next twelve points to get to within two points at 62-60 midway through the final period.

Going into the closing stages, both sides were tied at 80-80 before Skouson Harker made two free-throws to give the Wolves an 82-80. Ibrahim Gariba tied it again for the Capital, before Marcus Knight won the game for the visitors with 2.2 seconds remaining. The Wolves had a chance to win the game, but Chuck Evans' long-range shot as time expired bounced out.

Antony Paez led the Wolves scoring with 20 points, thus making him the BBL's leading scorer. Sam Bradley led all scorers with 21 points for the Capital.

Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders 82 (26,43,66) (Janiska 26, Vear/Wellington/McKnight 11)
Guildford Heat 99 (28,48,74) (Harrison 22, Martin 21, Dorsey 19)

Guildford Heat secured the runners-up spot in the BBL Championship table thanks to an 82-99 victory over the Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders on Saturday evening.

Both sides traded baskets throughout the first half, but the Heat closed the second quarter with a 5-0 burst to lead 43-48 going into the locker rooms at the break.

The second half continued in much the same way as the first with both teams trading baskets. The visitors again finished the quarter strongly with a 6-0 tear to lead 66-74 going into the final stanza.

In the final period, the Heat broke the game open with an 11-1 run midway through the quarter to take the score out to 73-90. The Riders tried valiantly to close the gap, but were unable to do so as the Heat ran out eventual winners.

Mindaugas Janiska led all scorers in the game with 26 points for the Riders, while the Heat scoring was led by EJ Harrison with 22.

18-04-08

Everton Tigers 82 (14,39,55) (Midgley 32, C Davis 18, Robertson 10)
SAMG Verve Scottish Rocks 68 (19,37,46) (S Davis 17, Yanders 14, Wohlers 12)

Everton Tigers kept the opportunity of finishing seventh in their first season in the BBL in their own hands with an 82-68 win over Scottish Rocks.

It was a bad defeat for the Rocks with it moving them down into sixth place because of Sheffield Sharks holding the head-to-head series against the Glasgow- based club.

After leading 14-19 at the end of the first quarter the Rocks allowed Tigers to nose ahead 39-37 heading into the half time interval.

During the break the crowd were entertained by basketball legends the Harlem Globetrotters.

Tigers dominated the third quarter to lead 55-46 and then Great Britain guard Richard Midgley nailed several three-pointers, on his way to a game-high 32- points, as the home team closed out the match with a 12-3 run.

Kularoos Plymouth Raiders 77 (24,33,52) (Lasker 22, Noel 18, Martin/Moore 15)
Marshall MK Lions 73 (22,40,56) (Youngblood 19, New 15, Griffin 12)

The Kularoos Plymouth Raiders finished the season in style as they recorded a first BBL Championship win of the season over the Marshall MK Lions, 77-73 live on Setanta Sports 2.
It was the tenth time that the Raiders have bounced back from a half time deficit to win a game this season.

The victory means that the Raiders go into the BBL Championship Playoffs on form after winning back-to-back games against fellow post-season contenders, and they have won 11 of their last 13 games. They also have a chance of holding onto second place, although they are relying on the Heat not recording a win in their last two games.
Drew Lasker led the way with 22 points, but it was James Noel and Anthony Martin who combined in the fourth quarter to win the game for their team. Robert Youngblood led the Lions with 19 hard-earned points.

There were four early lead changes in the game, but it was the Lions who settled the quicker, and particularly Mike New and Tony Windless as the former had 9 points and the latter 4 to help the Lions to an 11-13 lead. Drew Lasker hit his second triple of the game to give the Raiders the lead once more, before a 19-19 tie was broken by a series of Peter Heizer free-throws (5). Amazingly, Drew Lasker scored 5 points in the last 5 seconds of the quarter as he hit a three-pointer, whilst Jamison committed a foul inside and Lasker scored once more from the out-of-bounds play.

Baskets from Lasker and Moore made it a 9-0 burst across the first break and a score of 28-22. The Lions came back with a vengeance and regained the lead after a 14-0 run in which Windless had 4 points and a Kevin Griffin three gave them a 30-36 advantage. The Raiders halted the run before the half, but still trailed 33-40.

Plymouth, who had come from behind at the half to win games on nine occasions this season, hit the first 5 points of the third stanza to narrow the gap to 38-40. However, 6 straight points from Youngblood capped an 8-0 response for the Lions to make it a ten-point game at 38-48 as Ronnie Baker rolled back the years to run the show for the visitors. James Noel kept the Raiders close and they held it within single digits before an 8-0 burst, capped by a Lasker triple, made it 52-53 before a Griffin dagger three-pointer on the third quarter buzzer.

Early in the fourth Youngblood made an old-fashioned three-point play, followed by a Griffin three, to make the score 56-64. The momentum swung once more, and decisively, as Martin and Noel combined to rattle off 8 points for the Raiders to give the home side the lead at 68-66, before two lead changes ensued. After the Raiders had completed a 12-3 burst, 6 each for Martin and Noel, they led 72-69 with less than 5:00 to play.

Two-and-a-half scoreless minutes followed before Noel scored again. Within the last minute, Youngblood and New scored to make it 74-73.

With 18 seconds remaining, Gaylon Moore made 1/2 from the line before Yorick Williams was fouled by Lasker with 11 seconds left. He missed them both before a fracas ensued in the paint and Gaylon Moore ended up on the line at the other end with 5 seconds remaining and he made both to settle it.

13-04-08

The Kularoos Plymouth Raiders kept their slim hopes of stealing second place in the BBL Championship table from the Guildford Heat thanks to a 71-76 road victory over the SAMG Verve Scottish Rocks on Sunday evening. The Raiders netted the last eight points of the game to steal the victory. This victory was in response to a 78-73 defeat at the hands of the Sheffield Sharks on Friday night.

The Heat held onto second place thanks to victories over the Everton Tigers (106-82) on Sunday afternoon and the Worcester Wolves (106-79) on Wednesday night in front of the Setanta Sports TV cameras.

In the race for fourth place, the Marshall MK Lions suffered back-to-back defeats in the quest to hold onto the position. A 76-75 defeat by the Tigers on Wednesday night was followed by an 86-93 double- overtime defeat at the hands of the newly-crowned BBL League Champions Newcastle Eagles.

The battle for the lower positions in the play-offs is also hotting up with victories for the Sharks and the Wolves on Saturday night. The Sharks defeated Team Birmingham Panthers 71-96, while the Wolves knocked off the BiG Storage Cheshire Jets by a score of 96-91.

In other BBL Championship action, the PAWS London Capital moved into ninth position with a 79-82 victory over the Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders on Saturday evening, while the Panthers picked up their sixth victory of the campaign with a 97-100 victory over the Jets on Sunday night.

BiG Storage Cheshire Jets 97 (24,57,74) (Otten 26, Hamilton 23, Obazuaye 18)
Team Birmingham Panthers 100 (24,43,69) (Williams 30, Popoola/Sandell 19)

Team Birmingham Panthers picked up their sixth victory of the BBL Championship campaign thanks to a 97-100 victory over the BiG Storage Cheshire Jets at the Northgate Arena on Sunday evening.

The Jets led 91- 83 going into the closing stages of the game, but an 11-2 run from the Panthers, including two long-range three-pointers from Lekan Popoola, bought the score back to 95-94 with twenty-four seconds remaining.

A further three- pointer from Adam Williams after Gianni Costantiello had bagged two free-throws for the Jets bought the scores level at 97-97.

With the game looking destined to go into overtime, it was left to Daniel Sandell to launch a huge three-pointer from the halfway line as time expired to steal the victory for the Panthers.

Matthew Otten led the Jets scoring with 26 points, but it was Williams who led all scorers in the game with an impressive 30-point haul.

 Guildford Heat 106 (25,50,80) (Dorsey 23, Martin 20, Williams/Wardrope 15)
Everton Tigers 82 (15,43,61) (Robertson 23, Aliu/Haslam/Midgley 11)

Guildford Heat kept their stranglehold on second position in the BBL Championship table thanks to a comfortable 106-82 victory over the Everton Tigers at The Spectrum on Sunday afternoon.

The Heat started the stronger and a 12-5 burst midway through the opening period took the score out to 21-12.

The Tigers began to claw their way back into the game, and a 8-4 run to close out the first half bought the visitors to within seven points at 50-43 at the half.

A 10-5 burst to start the second half for the Tigers bought them to within four points at 57-53, but they were never to get any closer as the Heat rattled off a 21-4 tear to take the score out to 78-57.

A 9-3 run to close out the game for the home side in the final minute handed them the all-important victory.

Tony Dorsey led the Heat scoring with 23 points, while David Robertson led the Tigers scoring with 23 points as well.

 SAMG Verve Scottish Rocks 71 (18,45,60) (Yanders 19, Davis 16, Wohlers 14)
Kularoos Plymouth Raiders 76 (13,31,50) (Moore 20, Gall 15, Durham 13)

Kularoos Plymouth Raiders kept up their hopes of taking second place in the BBL Championship thanks to a 71-76 come-from- behind victory over the SAMG Verve Scottish Rocks at the Braehead Arena on Sunday evening.

The Rocks led by nineteen points at the start of the second half to take the score out to 50-31. The Raiders began to claw their way back into the game, and an 11-6 finish to the third period bought the score back to 60- 50.

A 14-2 start to the final stanza for the visitors gave them a slender two-point advantage at 62-64. Both sides traded baskets, and the Rocks led 71-68 going into the final two minutes. The Raiders picked up their intensity in the closing stages, and netted the last eight points of the game to take the victory.

Earlier in the game, the Rocks had dominated the first half of the game, and runs of 9-0 and 16-2 in the second quarter gave them a 45-31 lead at the half before the excitement built in the closing stages.

Gaylon Moore led all scorers with 20 points for the Raiders, while Rob Yanders led the Rocks scoring with 19.

12-04-08

Team Birmingham Panthers 71 (12,30,44) (Wright 17, Sandell 15, A Williams 15)
Sheffield Sharks 96 (28,49,76) (Chaney 24, Okorie 13, Whyte 13)

Sheffield Sharks surge continued at Birmingham Panthers as they moved level on points with fifth placed Scottish Rocks with a 71-96 victory in the West Midlands.

Shelby Chaney continued his impressive run of form to score a game high 24-points and be the main focus of the Sharks offence.

Chaney scored 12 in a 26-5 start to the match for Sheffield, which set the tone for the match. After leading 12-28 at the first break the Sharks then hit a 14-0 run around the half time break - with six from Chaney - to go ahead 30-55.

From there a further 15-0 tear to end the third quarter ensured that Sheffield kept their hosts at more than arm's length and put the pressure on Scottish Rocks to maintain their position in fifth.

Worcester Wolves 96 (25,43,65) (Paez 30, Harker 23, Life 22)
BiG Storage Cheshire Jets 91 (18,46,61) (Obazuaye 26, Hamilton 19, Costantiello 15)

Worcester Wolves kept alive their hopes of a seventh placed finish with a hard fought 96-91 home win over BiG Storage Cheshire Jets.

In a see-saw match the Wolves were well in control during the first quarter. A 21-11 lead, however, was trimmed to 25-18 by the end of the first ten minutes. Jets wouldn't lay down though and runs of 6-0 and 5-0 contributed to a 43-46 half time advantage.

The lead continued to change hands several times during a hectic third quarter. James Life and Anthony Paez connected for one of many alley-oops as the home side forged 65-61 ahead.

Wolves were well in the ascendancy in the final stanza at 89-78 before a Jets 9-0 burst made it interesting. Paez and Life worked their routine again to settle the nerves of Skouson Harker's men as they pulled away to the victory.

Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders 70 (14,25,45)(Lamble 14, Wellington 14, Jordan 13)
PAWS London Capital 82 (25,46,60) (Bradley 23, Perkins 16, Gariba 15)

PAWS London Capital moved up two places in the league table with an excellent away performance at Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders.

The 70-82 victory was Capital's fifth away win of the campaign and saw them leap ahead of Riders and BiG Storage Cheshire Jets into ninth position.

Capital were in control throughout as they eased into a 14-25 first quarter lead. They were helped somewhat by double-technical fouls on Riders duo Marcus Knight and Mindus Janiska, which helped them go in 25-46 at half time.

Riders trimmed the deficit back to 15 at the end of third quarter (45-60) but couldn't get close enough during the final stanza to worry a confident Capital team.

11-04-08

Marshall MK Lions 86 (23,44,62,78,81) (Brown 18, Williams 18, Jamison 14)
Newcastle Eagles  93 (23,43,61,78,81) (Bridge 22, Leven 21, Stewart 16)
After Double Overtime

The newly-crowned BBL Champions, the Newcastle Eagles, recorded a sweep of the Marshall MK Lions as they beat them for the third time in the BBL Championship this season, 86-93 in double overtime on the road on Friday night.

It was a BBL-first as the Eagles were forced into overtime for the third consecutive game, and they have won all of those.

In another physical battle between these two sides in front of a full house at Bletchley, Andrew Bridge led all scorers with 22 points for the Eagles, with GB squad member Steve Leven on 21. Fellow GB squad member Yorick Williams hit 18 for the Lions, as did Terrell Brown.

The Lions took the lead early in the game as a Tony Windless three-pointer and 8 Shawn Jamison points saw them 11-10 up, but it required 4 late points from Yorick Williams to ensure that the teams were tied at 23 after the first ten minutes, setting the tone for this game.

Brown hit three triples as the Lions led 39-35 in the second stanza, before a 6-0 run from the Eagles saw them in front, only for Brown to hit another three and Williams to score on the buzzer as the Lions regained the advantage at 44-43 going into the half.

Darius Defoe put the Eagles back ahead, before Yorick Williams keyed an 8-0 burst for the Lions and a 52-45 lead. A Bridge triple saw the Eagles just one down at 62-61 going into the fourth.

Both teams thought they had it won in the fourth period after a Kevin Griffin triple sparked a 9-0 burst for the Lions, and a 71-64 lead. However, a Fab Flournoy basket was followed by 10 straight from Leven and a 71-76 Newcastle lead with 2:00 remaining. Griffin hit another triple before Brown got a steal and lay-up to tie the game with 28 seconds left. Griffin hit two free-throws before the Eagles made their way down the court for the last possession with 20 seconds left, they found Lynard Stewart inside and he tied the game.

There were no early baskets in a low-scoring five minutes, as a pair of Bridge free-throws gave Newcastle the lead before Griffin hit another three. Bridge was then fouled with 5 seconds left, and made 1/2 to force the second extra period.

Brown hit another three-pointer for an 84-83 lead for the hosts, before Stewart was fouled and left unable to take his free-throws. Brian McCotter checked in and tied the game at 84. Soon afterwards, Babalola hit a deep three and Bridge scored once more for an 86-89 Newcastle lead, before Babalola and Flournoy sealed it from the charity stripe.

Sheffield Sharks                   78 (18,42,57) (Chaney 21, Lyons 19, Al. Virgil 11)
Kularoos Plymouth Raiders 73 (15,34,52) (Lasker 20, Beasley 18, Moore 15)

The Sheffield Sharks continued their sparkling form, and their build-up to the BBL Championship Playoffs, as they overcame the third-placed Kularoos Plymouth Raiders by 78-73 at the English Institute of Sport.

Sheffield's fifth consecutive win, and their first over the Raiders this season, was inspired by Shelby Chaney's 21 points, 11 rebounds, and 4 blocks; whilst Atiba Lyons added 19 points. Drew Lasker led the Raiders with 20 points, with Gaylon Moore adding 15 points and 16 boards.

The Raiders had the better of the early exchanges and led 12-15, before the Sharks scored the last 6 points of the first quarter to take an 18-15 lead with Alto Virgil scoring the last basket in that run.

The teams stayed close at 22-20 in the second until Lyons' 8 points and Chaney's 6 were influential in an 18-8 burst that gave the hosts a comfortable 40-28 lead. The Raiders chipped into that and when Gavin Love hit a three-pointer on the half-time buzzer, they were still in the game at 42-34.

The Raiders tied the game immediately in the third after a 10-2 tear made it 44-44. They took the lead with two Anthony Martin free-throws and held it until 49-52, when the Sharks posted an 8-0 push including triples from Anthony Virgil and Nathan Niesler. The Sharks led 57-52 going into the fourth quarter.

The Raiders would snatch the lead back as DeAntoine Beasley scored 6 straight points as part of a 9-0 run that made the score 67-70. However, Chaney and Lyons checked back into the game and had an immediate impact as the Sharks responded 9-0, and took the lead on a Chaney score. When Chaney blocked Lasker before scoring a free-throw with 21 seconds left, the game was settled.

09-04-08

Guildford Heat 106 (25,49,83) (Jones 22, Gilbert 21, Harrison 17)
Worcester Wolves 79 (16,40,67) (Paez 21, Durant 17, Harker 16)

Guildford Heat were merciless in their treatment of Worcester Wolves in the Setanta Sports 1 televised match at The Spectrum.

The Heat bounced straight back from losing their league title to Newcastle Eagles with a comprehensive 106-79 victory, which moves them into second place in the BBL.

After racing out to a 23-10 lead the Heat were pegged back to 25-16 at the end of the first quarter. Wolves refused to go away in the second quarter as they closed to 36-32 before Heat unleashed a three-point barrage to move 49-40 ahead at half time.

Guildford continued to punish Wolves from behind the arc and scoring fast break points from Worcester turnovers in the third quarter. A 25-15 run took the score from 58-52 to 83-67 heading into the final stanza.

There was no way back for Wolves from there as Heat coach Paul James took the opportunity of emptying his bench.

James Jones celebrated his call up to the Great Britain training squad with a game high 22-points including six from nine three-pointers.

Everton Tigers 76 (23,41,62) (Midgley 25, Aliu 23, Davis 8)
Marshall MK Lions 75 (23,47,61) (Y Williams 15, New 11, Windless 10)

Everton Tigers kept themselves in the hunt for sixth spot in the BBL with a come from behind home victory over fourth placed Marshall MK Lions.

The defeat means the Lions can finish no higher than their current fourth position and they must now hold off SAMG Verve Scottish Rocks to secure home-court advantage in the first round of the play-offs.

After a first quarter which ended 23-23 the Lions edged ahead 41-47 at half time. Tigers responded in the third quarter to lead 62-61 heading into the final ten minutes of action.

The see-saw nature of the match continued with a 14- 3 Lions run to give them a 65-75 advantage with five minutes remaining. However, that was to be the end of the scoring for the visitors.

An 11-0 Tigers run culminating with Richard Midgley's bucket with 2.5 seconds left on the clock clinched the win for Everton.

Guildford Heat 101 (30,63,88,96) (Gilbert 27, Martin 24, Harrison 21)
Newcastle Eagles 108 (31,55,70,96) (Leven 30, Stewart 20, Defoe 18)

The Newcastle Eagles have been crowned BBL Champions for the second time in three seasons after taking the title from the Guildford Heat, on their rivals' floor, with an amazing 101-108 overtime win behind 30 points from Steve Leven.

The Eagles have been carried to the title after winning fifteen of their last sixteen BBL Championship games and the win prevented the Heat from being the first team to sweep them since Brighton in 2003/04.

Fab Flournoy's team came from 18 points down with an awesome fourth quarter display as big men Lynard Stewart and Darius Defoe backed up Leven. The former had 20 points and 12 rebounds, as he recorded his seventh straight double-double, whilst the latter added 18 points.

Trailing at 88-70, the Eagles opened the fourth quarter with a 9-1 push after good work from Defoe and Stewart and held the Heat scoreless for 5:00. Soon afterwards a technical foul was called on Heat Coach Paul James, resulting in two points for Steve Leven, before an Olu Babalola basket made it a one possession game at 96-94. With 18 seconds left, EJ Harrison was on the line for the Heat but missed both free-throws. Player/coach Flournoy was fouled for the Eagles and, with 14 seconds left, made 2/2 to tie the game and complete a 26-8 fourth quarter. Harrison missed a pull-up jump shot to win the game with 2 seconds left.

The newly crowned champions carried their momentum into overtime as they started with a 10-3 run, including four points each from Flornoy and Babalola, for a 99-106 lead within the last minute and the celebrations began soon afterwards.

Earlier in the game, the teams had played their way to a 10-10 tie before the Heat edged ahead after a Martin three and two from Gilbert. Back-to-back three-pointers from Flournoy and Leven tied the teams again at 19, before the Eagles hit 8 straight points, culminating with a Leven dunk, for a 21-27 lead. Four late points from former Eagle Dorsey saw the teams close at 30-31 after the opening ten minutes.

After the Heat took an early second quarter lead, Leven hit back-to-back three-pointers to see the Eagles 32-37 in front. A 7-2 run tied the game at 46, before a Martin basket soon afterwards gave the Heat the lead back. After a series of turnovers from the Eagles, the Heat went in at the break 63-55 to the good after Harrison and Martin combined for the last 5 points of the half.

GB squad member James Jones opened the third quarter with a triple to spark a 13-2 opening that stretched the Heat's lead to 76-57. From that point, Jones's fellow GB squad member, Steve Leven, took it upon himself to get the Eagles back into the game as he notched 7 straight points, but the Eagles still trailed at 88-70 before the unbelievable final stanza ensued.

Marshall MK Lions 95 (30,50,63) (Spinks 23, Heizer 21, Griffin 16)
Birmingham Panthers 74 (16,30,46) (Jules 22, A. Williams 21, Sandell/Popoola 9)

The Marshall MK Lions strengthened their grip on the coveted fourth spot in the BBL Championship table after a 95-74 win over the Birmingham Panthers, thus completing a sweep of the second city side in league games between the teams this season.

The visiting Panthers led early in the game at 2-6, before Yorick Williams keyed a 15-1 burst for the Lions as they went on to win the first quarter 30-16.

The teams traded three-pointers to open the second stanza, with Griffin scoring for the Lions, before the hosts netted 11 straight points. Griffin, a former Birmingham player, hit 5 further points as the Lions went in 50-30 in front at the half.

The Panthers looked to get back into the game in the third quarter, but they fell further behind before scoring the last 7 points of the quarter to give themselves hope at 63-46 going into the fourth period.

Lions' captain Dru Spinks carried his team to the victory in the fourth as he scored 10 points and the Lions ran out 95-74 victors.

Worcester Wolves 69 (25,40,60) (Paez 21, Life 17, Brosko 13)
Sheffield Sharks 99 (28,53,73) (Whyte 32, Chaney 16, Lyons 14)

The Sheffield Sharks recorded their fourth straight win, marking their best run of form of the season, as they beat their positional rivals the Worcester Wolves 69-99 to take the head-to-head series between the teams.

The Sharks held the free-scoring Wolves to their third-lowest number of points in a league game this season, and their lowest points tally in two months, after restricting them to just nine points in the fourth quarter.

James Whyte scored 32 points for the Sharks, whilst Shelby Chaney added 16 and Atiba Lyons 14. Anthony Paez led the resistance with 21 points for the Wolves.

The hosts started well and soon led 4-0, before the Sharks came back to lead 5-6 and posted a 6-0 burst soon afterwards. The Wolves fought back to tie the game at 13 and snatched back the lead on a James Life three-pointer that made it 19-18. However, the visitors finished the quarter the stronger and took a 25-28 lead that they would not relinquish.

The Sharks scored the opening 5 points of the second and followed that with a further 7-0 burst midway through to lead 36-48. Paez looked to keep the Wolves in it as he hit four straight points, but the Sharks scored the last 5 of the half to lead 40-53.

The hosts could not close the gap in the third period, and when the Sharks started the fourth with a 14-5 burst for a 65-87 lead, there was no way back. The Sharks compounded Worcester's misery with a further 12 straight points as they recorded their second biggest win of the season.

05-04-08

Birmingham Panthers 58 (18,34,42) (Popoola 13, A. Williams 13, Sandell 11)
Guildford Heat             94 (16,36,65) (Nottley 22, Gilbert 12, Williams 11)

The Guildford Heat are mathematically still in the BBL Championship title race after they beat the Birmingham Panthers by 58-94 in the West Midlands, setting up a huge game when they host the Newcastle Eagles on Sunday.

It was the Heat's fifth straight league win, and their third of the season over the Panthers.

Big John Nottley took advantage of the lack of size amongst the Panthers as he scored 22 points to lead all scorers, supported by 12 points from Danny Gilbert and 11 from Dean Williams. Former Heat guard Lekan Popoola led the Panthers with 13 points.

In an amazing first half, the BBL's basement side held the reigning league champions scoreless for 5:30 and moved into an 8-0 lead. At that point, Coach Paul James benched his entire starting five and that provided the spark for the Heat to get going.

The visitors were still trailing 18-16 after the first ten minutes, but edged a close first half as they eventually took the lead at 30-32, before leading 34-36 at the halfway point.

The Heat came out in the third quarter and immediately made the run that won the game as they went 24-5 for a 39-60 lead. Former Birmingham player Tony Dorsey had 6 points in that run, with Gilbert scoring 10 of those. From that point there was no way back into it for the hosts as the Heat eased to the victory.

PAWS London Capital 89 (19,43,66) (Bradley 15, Ataha 14, Knight 14)
Everton Tigers            81 (20,34,55) (Midgley 27, Davis 19, Aliu 17)

The PAWS London Capital won back-to-back league games for the first time since November as they overcame the Everton Tigers by 89-81.

The Capital can no longer make the BBL Championship Playoffs, but have begun to salvage something from their season after taking the head-to-head series with the Tigers. For playoff-bound Everton, it was their sixth defeat in the last seven games.

The win sees London draw level with the Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders in tenth place, setting up a significant game between the two sides next week as they look to finish in as high a position as possible.

Sam Bradley returned from injury to lead the Capital with 15 points, whilst guards Marcus Knight and Santa Ataha had 14 each. GB international Richard Midgley led all scorers with 27 points in vain for Everton.

The hosts were quick out of the blocks and soon led 7-0, only for Delme Herriman to hit 4 points and inspire a 12-4 finish to the first stanza that saw the Tigers edge it 19-20.

The teams remained close throughout the second period, before the Londoners finished with the last 11 points for a commanding 43-34 lead at a venue in which they took the scalps of the Guildford Heat and SAMG Verve Scottish Rocks last month.

The Tigers hit the first 7 points of the third quarter, including three free-throws from Calvin Davis after he was fouled when shooting from downtown, to make it a one-possession game. However, 7:00 into the period, Santa Ataha hit 5 consecutive points to stretch the lead to double-digits at 56-46 for the Capital.

The visitors looked to set up an exciting fourth quarter as they opened with an 8-2 push. The Capital withstood the pressure and posted a 7-3 run in the closing stages, mostly from Bradley and Knight at the charity stripe, to put the game beyond Everton at 87-78.

04-04-08

Everton Tigers 90 (27,49,62) (Aliu 27, Midgley 20, Haslam 19)
Newcastle Eagles 93 (21,45,58) (Stewart 27, Babalola 19, Dafoe 17)
(After Overtime 86-86 at the end of regulation)

Newcastle Eagles completed the first part of their bid to win the BBL Championship this weekend with a nailbiting 93-90 overtime success over the Everton Tigers.

In a nip and took encounter neither side were able to break clear of their opponents but it was the Tigers who held a slender advantage for much of the game. Late in the fourth quarter four points in a row from Tigers David Aliu looked to have given his side the crucial advantage at 83-79 going in to the final few minutes however some dominant rebounding from Lynard Stewart and cool shooting from the charity stripe from Andrew Bridge levelled things up at 86-86 with 15s remaining.

Amazingly both sides had the opportunity to win the game in the final seconds, Tigers turning the ball over on their offence and Eagles failing to get a decent look in their final 10s possession.

Once in the extra period once again it was Tigers who nudged in front, former Eagles Richard Midgeley's score with just over 2m remaining left the hosts 90-88 to the good. However the Tigers weren't to score again as a put back and one out of two from the line from Stewart separated two single free throw successes from Andrew Bridge to give Eagles the win.

Marshall MK Lions 75 (17,39,56) (Windless/Spinks 12, Brown 11)
Worcester Wolves 97 (23,45,67) (Life 29, Paez 27, Harker 19)

The Worcester Wolves secured their first ever playoff berth after defeating the Marshall MK Lions 97-75 on the road.

After the teams had traded baskets early on the Wolves rattled off 8 points without reply to lead 16-8 and although Lions trimmed the lead back, a 12-4 finale to the first quarter left Wolves 28-17 clear. Lions fought back in the second stanza with a 11-2 burst and when Liam Cort scored a three pointer on the half time buzzer the gap was back to 6 at 45-39.

Chuck Evans started the third quarter strongly for the visiting Wolves, nailing back to back three pointers to open up a double digit lead. The Lions stayed in contention thanks to 8 points in the quarter from Dru Spinks but it took a Yorrick Williams 3 pointer on the third quarter buzzer to cut Wolves advantage to 67- 56.

Once in the final quarter Lions hopes of a recovery quickly disappeared, Terrell Brown left the game with a head injury and a unsportsmanlike foul on Shawn Jamison and subsequent bench technical left the game beyond Lions reach.

Wolves were once again led by prolific scorers James Life (29 points) and Anthony Paez (27 points).

Sheffield Sharks                                     83 (29,51,65) (Niesler 24, Virgil 13, Whyte 12)
Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders 66 (14,34,53) (McKnight 14, Burns/Wellington/White 11)

The Sheffield Sharks confirmed their spot in the BBL Championship Playoffs after they beat the Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders 83-66 live on Setanta Sports 1, and recorded their third consecutive win.

Australian guard Nathan Niesler put in his best performance in the BBL as he hit five three-pointers on his way to 24 points. Chad McKnight led the Riders with 14.

The Sharks led from the outset as a James Whyte triple made it 5-2 and set the tone for the first half. The Sharks rattled off a 12-2 burst shortly afterwards including two further triples from Nathan Niesler and one from Alto Virgil. The teams traded baskets before Rangy George came from the bench to make back-to-back baskets for a score of 25-11 and the Sharks led 29-14 after ten minutes.

Sheffield continued their fine shooting in the second stanza and posted an early 8-3 run comprising of two further three-pointer from Virgil and another George score. Chad McKnight and Carlos White carried the load for the Riders, but the lead was stretched on another 8-2 burst as Niesler hit back-to-back threes, the Sharks were 9/15 from beyond the arc in the first half, and the score peaked at 51-28. White and McKnight kept it up for the Riders as they combined to score the last 6 points of the half to keep them in it at 51-34.

The Riders chipped into the lead in the third quarter as former Shark Joel Burns hit two early three-pointers. McKnight and White combined once more with consecutive baskets to cut the deficit to 61-47 midway through. The Riders stepped up on defence before Russell Jordan and a Mindaugas Janiska triple closed out the quarter and set up the decisive period at 65-53.

The Riders got as close as 10 points with 2:30 to go after Terrence Woodyard and Rod Wellington baskets, before the hosts posted the run that won the game. Whyte made an old-fashioned three-point play, before Niesler stole the ball on the inbounds and finished with a lay-up to ignite an 8-0 burst that made it 80-62 with 1:42 left, and there was no way back for the visitors.