02-03-08

Guildford Heat      86 (21,35,61) (Harrison 25, Gilbert 25, Martin 13)
Newcastle Eagles 79 (20,47,65) (Stewart 26, Bridge 12, Babalola 11)

The Guildford Heat have won the BBL Trophy for the first time by beating the Newcastle Eagles 86-79 at the Plymouth Pavilions.

EJ Harrison scooped the MVP award after scoring 25 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter, as the Eagles were condemned to their second defeat in a major final this season.
Harrison's score was matched by team mate Danny Gilbert, and Mike Martin had a double-double of 13 points and 12 rebounds. Lynard Stewart led all scorers with 26 points in vain for the Eagles.

In the fascinating early exchanges, it was the Heat that settled the fastest as, after four lead changes, Danny Gilbert and EJ Harrison scored a basket each to establish a lead for the Heat before Harrison fed Gilbert for an 'alley-oop' as part of an 8-0 burst that made the score 13-6. The Eagles hit back with the next three points before Dorsey made back-to-back baskets as the lead reached its first quarter peak at 17-9.

The momentum shifted from that moment as, through Olu Babalola, Jeremy Hyatt, and Fab Flournoy, the Eagles had the next 5 points. They began to assert themselves on the game over the first quarter break as Andrew Bridge and Steve Leven hit the last two baskets of the first stanza, before Flournoy opened the scoring in the second and Leven added a three to cap a 9-0 push for a 21-25 lead. The teams traded baskets before Andrew Bridge hit 5 points in a row as art of a further 7 unanswered points that made it 28-37 to the Eagles. Dorsey was called for a foul on Lynard Stewart, that also resulted in his being called for a technical foul and not featuring again in the game, but Stewart missed both free-throws on that occasion. He responded well, however, and made the final 6 points of the half for a 35-47 Newcastle lead.

The pendulum swung once more as the second half commenced, with the Heat posting a 13-3 run which included 5 points from Mike Martin, before drawing level at 51-51 on a James Jones three-pointer. Stewart responded once more with the next 5 points as the Eagles retained a small cushion. That changed with less than a minute to go in the third as Chi Lewis-Parry capped a 7-0 tear that saw the Heat snatch the lead back at 63-61 as they finished the third quarter 65-61 to the good.

In keeping with the manner of this game, the Eagles were not behind for long as Babalola scored 4 quick points early in the fourth period and the Eagles went up 65-66. Lewis-Parry (2) and Harrison (6) combined for the Heat as they posted an 8-2 run and led at 73-70 with 5:18 left.

The teams traded baskets as not much more than a point separated them for the next 3:00 minutes, with the Heat holding the edge, and entering the final minute the Heat led 81-78 after another Harrison score. With 29 seconds remaining Danny Gilbert made the three-pointer that effectively sealed the game, before Hyatt failed to connect from long-range for the Eagles and Flournoy could only make 1/2 from the charity stripe. EJ Harrison held his nerve from the line and made 2/2 with 10.9 seconds left and the game was won.

02-02-08

Worcester Wolves 75 (19,45,60) (Paez 26, Life 23, Harker 9)
Guildford Heat       81 (18,38,65) (Gilbert 18, Dorsey 17, Harrison 13)

The Guildford Heat made it to the BBL Trophy Final for the first time in their history with an 81-75 semi-final win over the Worcester Wolves at Ponds Forge.

Danny Gilbert and Tony Dorsey led the Heat with double-doubles. The former had 18 points and 10 rebounds, whilst the latter posted 17 points and 10 boards; EJ Harrison added 13 points and 5 assists. The Wolves were led by Anthony Paez (26) and James Life (23).

The teams traded early runs as the Heat scored the first 5 points of the game, and John Nottley added 4 in a row soon afterwards for an early 9-4 lead for the Heat. However, Paez and Life, the latter with two dunks, hit four each in an 8-2 burst that put the Wolves in front for the first time. There were five lead changes from that point as the Wolves prevailed with a 19-18 lead after the opening ten minutes courtesy of a Chuck Evans score.

Life, the league's leading score, came out on fire in the second as the Wolves started with an 11-3 push. Life had 9 of those, including a four-point play and his team led 21-30. Veteran Tony Dorsey halted that run with the next 5 and when Ajou Deng scored the Heat had closed it to 30-32. The Wolves finished the half the stronger as Paez hit four more and Skouson Harker drained a three-pointer to send them into the break 38-45 in front.

They carried that momentum into the second half as they soon stretched the lead out to its peak at 45-56 after Chuck Evans had four and Life had three in a run of 7 unanswered points, before Harker and Paez added scores shortly afterwards. From that moment, Danny Gilbert turned the game around. He hit the next 9 points to ignite the Heat as they posted a 17-3 surge. They tied the game at 59 on a Nerijus Karlikanovas triple and then took the lead courtesy of Mike Martin's free-throw. Deng closed the third stanza with a three-pointer and the Heat had the edge at 65-60.

The teams traded baskets in a slow start to the decisive period, but the irrepressible Paez and Life closed the gap to just two points with a little over two minutes to play. Paez made a free-throw and Life a mid-range jump shot, before Paez blocked EJ Harrison and found his team mate on the outlet - Life finished with a big dunk and it looked as though the pendulum was swinging in their favour as the deficit became 71-73. However, with 52 seconds remaining, Deng made a three-pointer from the top of the arc to seal the game. Gilbert and Harrison saw the game out from the free-throw line.

Newcastle Eagles                105 (38,59,77) (Hyatt 21, Smith 19, Defoe 18)
BiG Storage Cheshire Hets 75 (11,30,46) (Obazuaye 26, Hamilton 20, Otten 19)

The Newcastle Eagles have reached the BBL Trophy Final for the fourth consecutive season after a 105-75 win over the BiG Storage Cheshire Jets, who themselves enjoyed a four-year 'dynasty' in this competition between 2000-04, at Ponds Forge on Saturday evening.

After losing the Trophy last season to the Kularoos Plymouth Raiders, the Eagles made their intentions known early on in the game as, after the teams had traded their way to 8-8, they rattled off the next 18 points. That duly became a 30-3 surge for the remainder of the first quarter which gave them a comprehensive 38-11 lead. Charles Smith had 10 points in the quarter, with Jeremy Hyatt adding 8 and Olu Babalola 6.

It was more of the same to open the second stanza as they pushed the lead out to 46-15. Led by Matt Otten, the Jets looked to make some headway with a 7-3 run, only for Lynard Stewart to hit 4 as the Eagles responded with 6 in a row. The Jets closed the half with the last 7 points, 5 of which came from Otten, to trim the deficit to 59-30 going into the dressing rooms.

The Eagles maintained that lead throughout the second half and were never threatened, before breaking through the century mark with 1.35 left in the game.
It was those early scorers that paced the Eagles as Hyatt finished with 21 points and 7 rebounds - he hit 4/5 from beyond the arc. Charles Smith had 19 points on 9/12 shooting, and Darius Defoe added 18 points and 8 boards.

For the Jets, Obazuaye had 26 points and 9 rebounds, whilst past Trophy winner James Hamilton had 20 points and 11 rebounds.

27-01-08

The semi-final draw for the BBL Trophy is complete after the weekend's matches.

BiG Storage Cheshire Jets will play Newcastle Eagles and Guildford Heat take on Worcester Wolves. Three of those four teams had already booked their place with the Jets securing their visit to Ponds Forge in Sheffield thanks to the completion of Group 1 on Sunday.

First of all Marshall MK Lions blew their chance of a Cup final rematch with the Eagles after they lost at Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders on Saturday. And to further compound both theirs and Kularoos Plymouth Raiders misery, the Jets beat Riders on Sunday.

The other Trophy matches, to complete the schedule, were Worcester's win over Birmingham Panthers on Friday and PAWS London Capital's victory over Barkers (Tarring) Worthing Thunder on Sunday.

BiG Storage Cheshire Jets 86 (25,49,75) (Obazuaye 25, Otten 17, Myers 16)
Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders 71 (15,29,45) (Vear 14, McKnight 12, White 11)

BiG Storage Cheshire Jets are the last team through to the BBL Trophy semi-finals after a 86-71 home win against Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders.

The Jets have set up a meeting against Newcastle Eagles at Ponds Forge ISC in Sheffield next weekend for the right to meet either Worcester Wolves or Guildford Heat in the final.

An 8-0 start to the match against Riders was the catalyst for the Jets victory. From there they led by 10 (25-15) at the end of the first and by 20 (49-29) at half time.

There was no let up after the break as the advantage went out to 30-points at the end of the third quarter (75- 45). The Jets eased up in the final stanza as Riders outscored them 11-26 to make the final scoreline slightly more respectable.

PAWS London Capital 72 (20,36,52) (Bradley 19, Perkins 16, Ataha 11)
Barkers (Tarring) Worthing Thunder 56 (13,21,41) (Bates 19, Brame 10, Hildreth 9)

PAWS London Capital ended their BBL Trophy campaign on a winning note with a 72-56 home victory against Barkers (Tarring) Worthing Thunder.

A 7-0 first quarter run by London helped them at an early 13-8 lead which they stretched out to 20-13 at the end of the first quarter. A further 9-0 burst broke the match open in the second period as Capital led 36-21 at half time.

Worthing fought back well in the third quarter, and a 15-2 run saw them close to 42-38 midway through the period. However, Sam Bradley scored all the points in a 10-0 run to put the hosts back in charge at 52- 38.

The visitors battled hard in the final stanza but couldn't get close as London ran out comfortable winners.

26-01-08

Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders 84 (23,43,59) (White 21, Woodyard 19, Burns/McKnight 13)
Marshall MK Lions                                 79 (32,38,60) (New 21, Brown 18, Windless 16)

Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders picked up their first victory of the 2007/8 BBL Trophy campaign, and as a result, sent the Marshall MK Lions out of the competition after a hard-fought 84-79 victory over the Lions at the John Sanford Centre on Saturday evening.

This result means that if the BiG Storage Cheshire Jets defeat the Riders tomorrow evening, they will qualify for the semi-finals. If not, then the Kularoos Plymouth Raiders will collect a place in the Final Four of the competition.

Both sides traded baskets from the outset, but it was the Lions who gained the first advantage with a 7-0 tear to lead 13- 24 midway through the opening period.

The second period saw the home side step up their play at both ends, and outscored their opponents 20-6 in the second period to lead 43-38 going in at the half.

An 11-4 start to the second half for the Lions saw them trim the deficit to two points at 51-49, and they continued to chip away at the Riders lead and went into the final stanza leading by a single point at 59- 60.

In the final period, the Riders broke the game open with a 8-0 burst to take the score out to 67-63. The visitors tried desperately to overturn the deficit, and got themselves to within a point at 77-76 with less than ninety seconds remaining, but the Riders held on for the all-important victory.

Carlos White was the star man for the Riders, leading their scoring with 21 points personal, while Michael New led the Lions scorers, also with 21 points.

25-01-08

21/01/08

20/01/08

In an unbelievable night of BBL Trophy action there were numerous twists and turns before the Newcastle Eagles confirmed their spot in the semi-final, and the reigning champions, the Kularoos Plymouth Raiders, were dumped out of the competition. [Really? I wouldn’t have thought that was certain. – Webmaster.]
The SAMG Verve Scottish Rocks needed to beat the Eagles by 24 in order to progress themselves, and with 27 seconds remaining they were doing just that until former Rock Charles Smith, who left in contentious circumstances back in 2005, saw his team through with a pair of free-throws.

Meanwhile, the BiG Storage Cheshire Jets, who won the BBL Trophy on four consecutive occasions between 2001-2004, kept their hopes of qualification alive as they beat the Raiders by 87-74.

BiG Storage Cheshire Jets 87 (18,42,61) (Obazuaye 43, Myers 21, Costantiello 8)
Kularoos Plymouth Raiders 74 (13,26,45) (Beasley 23, Lasker 16, Noel 10)
The BiG Storage Cheshire Jets, who won the BBL Trophy on four consecutive occasions between 2001-2004, threw group one wide open with an 87-74 defeat of the reigning champions, the Kularoos Plymouth Raiders, at the Northgate Arena.

Jayson Obazuaye had an amazing night as his huge 43 points inspired the Jets to victory; Shawn Myers supported him with 21. DeAntoine Beasley led the Raiders with 23.

The visitors held an early lead at 10-13 before Obazuaye turned in one of the best spells of individual play seen in the BBL. He sank the last eight points of the first quarter, followed by the first six for his team in the second stanza to propel the Jets into a 24-15 lead. Shortly afterwards the Raiders hit back with 7 straight points, but the hosts closed the first half with a 12-2 surge, including 6 for Obazuaye and 6 for Gianni Costantiello, to lead 42-26 as the Raiders' defence of the Trophy slipped away. Obazuaye had 16 second quarter points, and was on 26 in total by that point.

Beasley opened the scoring in the third, on his way to 8 points in the period, but Obazuaye hit the next two baskets and the Raiders could not close the gap.

Plymouth pressed for the entirety of the final period, but 10 points from Drew Lasker and two three-pointers from Gavin Love were not enough despite their winning the stanza by 29-26.

This group now goes down to the wire as the Marshall MK Lions and BiG Storage Cheshire Jets each face the Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders next week. A win for the Lions will see them through to the semi-finals regardless of what happens elsewhere courtesy of having the head-to-heads over both the Raiders and the Jets; if the Lions lose, and the Jets beat Leicester, then the Jets progress as group-winners courtesy of having taken the head-to-head over Plymouth.

The draw for the BBL Trophy semi-finals, taking place at Ponds Forge ISC on Saturday 2nd February, will be made on Monday.

SAMG Verve Scottish Rocks 100 (20,42,71) (Yanders 26, Davis 21, Hampton 17)
Newcastle Eagles                      78 (15,38,57) (Smith 17, Babalola 13, Flournoy 11)
The SAMG Verve Scottish Rocks beat the Newcastle Eagles by 100-78, but it was not enough for them to surpass their biggest rivals at the top of BBL Trophy Group Four as the Eagles won the head-to-head between the teams and confirmed their place in the semi-finals at Ponds Forge on Saturday 2nd February. The Eagles are looking to reach the final of this competition, which they won in 2006, for the third consecutive season.

In order to overturn the Eagles, the Rocks had to tie or better the 24-point margin that the Eagles beat them by in the first game between these sides in this competition. In an agonising fourth quarter they came incredibly close to doing so in front of the biggest crowd of the season so far at the Braehead Arena.

With 27 seconds remaining the Rocks were going through as they led 100-76, only for Charles Smith, who left the Rocks for their biggest rivals in contentious circumstances in 2005, kept his cool from the free-throw line to see his team progress. The Rocks had another chance to achieve that all-important 24-point win, only for Rob Yanders to turn the ball over on their final offence.

It began to look as though qualification was a realistic prospect for the Rocks in the third stanza as they established a 71-51 lead, which came about after a 13-2 opening to the quarter, only for the Eagles to score the last 6 points of the period to reduce the threat.

The Rocks then opened the fourth with the first 7 points and made a further 16-2 push late on to give them that lead of 100-76.

Earlier in the game the teams had traded 10-0 bursts, and there were 4 lead changes in the second quarter before a Sterling Davis three-pointer capped an 11-4 close to the first half that saw the Rocks lead 43-38 before the amazing second half to the game.

Yanders led the scoring with 26 points on the night. Smith led the Eagles with 17.

The Eagles will now wait with anticipation for tomorrow's semi-final draw.

19-01-08

Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders 91 (18,35,57) (Woodyard 29, Wellington 10, Vear 10, Mills 10)
BiG Storage Cheshire Jets                   96 (26,51,80) (Myers 28, Obazuaye 23, Otten 13)

BiG Storage Cheshire Jets kept alive their hopes of reaching the last four of the BBL Trophy with a 91-96 victory at Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders.

Barkers (Tarring) Worthing Thunder 77 (20,32,56) (Woodthorpe 22, Marist 13, Brame 12)
Poujoulat Heat Guildford                     99 (23,44,68) (D Williams 20, Wardrope 20, Nottley 15)
Poujoulat Heat Guildford had already qualified for the last four of the BBL Trophy and they had little trouble in sweeping aside National League club Barkers (Tarring) Worthing Thunder 77-99 on the road.

18-01-08

Sheffield Sharks          84 (19,39,63) (Graham 21, Ant. Virgil 17, Whyte 14)
Birmingham Panthers 61 (24,39,55) (L. Williams 18, Popoola 11, Wright 11)
The Sheffield Sharks and Worcester Wolves go head- to-head tomorrow night with a place in the BBL Trophy semi-finals at stake; that comes after the Sharks overpowered the Birmingham Panthers 84-61 at the EIS in tonight's game.

Justice Graham led the scorers with 21 points, whilst Anthony Virgil had a career night with 17 and Randy George had a double-double of 11 points and 13 rebounds. LaTaryl Williams led the visitors with 18 points.

The Sharks came from behind after trailing in the early stages as the Panthers held a first quarter lead at 13- 18; the Sharks rallied to 19-21 only for LaTaryl Williams to net a three-pointer on the buzzer to put the Panthers up 19-24 after the first ten minutes.
The second quarter remained tight as the Sharks narrowed the gap to 27-30 before taking the lead at 32- 30. Three lead changes followed until the teams went into the locker rooms tied at 39 at the half.

The home side began to make their move in the third quarter as they started with a 7-2 burst, which was capped by a Justice Graham triple. New signing James Whyte scored 2 of his 14 points as they extended the lead to 53-46, which subsequently became 63-55 going into the decisive stanza.

Cameron Wright opened the fourth quarter scoring for the Panthers but any hopes of closing the gap were eradicated as the Sharks sealed the game with an 11- 0 burst. Anthony Virgil scored 5 points and Graham added another triple as they stretched the lead to 74- 57. From there debutant Niesler scored 5 of his own and Virgil added another three-pointer as the Sharks took their largest lead of the game at 82-59 and held the Panthers to just 6 points in the fourth period.

Marshall MK Lions 95 (28,50,63) (Brown 22, Heizer 18, Windless 18)
Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders 63 (10,36,52) (White 20, Vear 14, McKnight 10)
The Marshall MK Lions have set up a crunch tie with the Kularoos Plymouth Raiders in BBL Trophy Group 1 tomorrow after tonight's 95-63 defeat of the Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders.

The Lions paraded the BBL Cup prior to tip-off and began the game in fine style as they restricted the Riders to just 10 first quarter points. Riders' new signing Carlo White made an instant impact as he scored his team's first six points on the way to an early 6-6 tie. Back-to-back three-pointers from Terrell Brown sparked a 13-0 surge for the home team that made the score 19-6 before they went on to lead 28- 10 at the end of the first.

Tony Windless hit the first six points of the second stanza and after five minutes the Lions led 41-19. Big man Carlo White was then the inspiration in Leicester's 12-0 push that narrowed the gap to 50-36, which became 63-52 at the end of the third period.

Terrell Brown opened the fourth quarter with a barrage of three-pointers to settle the game as he hit four treys in the first six minutes to give the Lions an 85-59 lead, after a 22-7 run, and there was no way back for the Riders.

After such success from long-range, it was Brown who led the scorers with 22 points, with Peter Heizer and Tony Windless netting 18 each in support. Debutant White netted 20 in response.

15-01-08

Newcastle Eagles 89 (24,47,64) (Bridge 18, Babalola 17, Smith 14)
Everton Tigers     73 (22,40,52) (Davis 26, Haslam 20, Nowell 13)

Newcastle Eagles all but secured their place in the BBL Trophy Semi Final draw with a 89-73 success over an injury ravaged Everton Tigers side.

After a close first quarter the Eagles rattled off 6 points without reply to open up a double digit advantage at 37-27 midway through the second stanza. Tigers trimmed the lead back to 7 at the break but Eagles opened up the third quarter with 7 straight points to put significant daylight between the teams at 54- 40.

Despite a game high 26 points from Calvin Davis the Tigers could find now way back in to the game.

13-01-08

Team Birmingham Panthers 91 (18,51,72) (Daniel Sandell 28, Lataryl Williams 21, Lekan Popoola 19)
Worcester Wolves 95 (22,52,73) (James Life 34, Skouson Harker 15, Shaun Durant/Anthony Paez 14)

Worcester Wolves defeated Team Birmingham Panthers 95-91 in their BBL Trophy encounter to maintain top spot in Group Three.

The game was close in the opening quarter, with Worcester just edging ahead at the close to lead 22- 18. They built on that narrow margin in the second stanza to lead 52-41, but Birmingham battled back with ten straight points, including a last gasp steal and dunk from Lataryl Williams, which narrowed the Wolves lead to just one point at 52-51 to Worcester.

The game remained close in the second half. The teams traded baskets in the third quarter, as Worcester gradually edged a little further ahead at 73- 67. Panthers again finished the stronger and Worcester's lead at the end of the third period remained at just one point at 73-72.

Birmingham fought throughout the fourth quarter, but with less than two minutes left trailed 85-88 and Worcester kept their lead thanks to a flurry of free throws at the close.

11-01-08

Everton Tigers                        70 (14,36,48) (Davis 20, Simpson/Haslam 16)
SAMG Verve Scottish Rocks 90 (28,44,74) (Hampton 22, Joseph 17, Wohlers/Davis 14)

The SAMG Verve Scottish Rocks kept their hopes of qualifying for the semi-finals of the BBL Trophy thanks to a 70-90 victory over the Everton Tigers at the Greenbank Academy on Friday night.

The Rocks led for the majority of the game, taking a 36-44 lead into the locker rooms at the half.

The second half saw the Tigers take the lead midway through the third quarter, but the Rocks held the Tigers scoreless in the final three minutes of the period to take a 48-74 lead into the final stanza.

The Rocks held off a resilent Tigers revival in the final ten minutes and held on for the all- important victory.

Maurice Hampton led all scorers in the game with 22 points for the Rocks, while Calvin Davis led the Tigers scoring with 20.

06-01-08

The BiG Storage Cheshire Jets got themselves back in with a chance of qualifying for the semi-finals of the BBL Trophy thanks to a hard-fought 90-87 victory over the Marshall MK Lions on Sunday evening. Jason Obazuaye was the star for the home side netting 25 points for the Jets.

There were also victories on Sunday for the Poujoulat Heat Guildford and the SAMG Verve Scottish Rocks to keep their aspirations of a Final Four place alive. The Heat picked up a comfortable 118-69 victory over the Barkers (Tarring) Worthing Thunder, while the Rocks defeated the Everton Tigers 86-79.

All reports, and match facts from the week's games can be found at http://www.bbl.org.uk

BiG Storage Cheshire Jets 90 (28,54,68) (Obazuaye 25, Otten 17, Hamilton 16)
Marshall MK Lions 87 (24,41,64) (New/Jamison 17, Brown 16)

BiG Storage Cheshire Jets kept their hopes of qualifying for the latter stages of the BBL Trophy alive thanks to a 90-87 victory over the Marshall MK Lions at the Northgate Arena on Sunday evening.

The Lions trailed 68-64 going into the final period before a 9-3 start to the period gave them their first lead of the game at 71-75. The Jets came back with a 12-5 tear of their own to retake the lead at 83-80 midway through the period.

The excitement mounted with a Tony Windless three-pointer for the Lions to tie the game at 87-87 with 1:40 remaining. The Jets got a giant step towards the victory when Jason Obazuaye netted with 35 seconds left to lead 89-87.

The Lions had the opportunity to tie the game, but Shawn Jamison missed the basket, and then fouled Jets' Mark Pratt on the following play sending him to the free-throw line with 4 seconds left. Pratt held his nerve to make 1 from 2 at the foul-line.

The Lions had a chance to take the game into overtime, but Terrell Brown's long-range effort as time expired was not successful.

Earlier in the game, the Jets had jumped out to a 54-41 half-time lead, but the Lions exploded out of the blocks at the start of the second half with a 13-2 tear to close the gap to two points at 56-54.

The game remained close throughout the third period before all the excitement of the final period.

Obazuaye led all scorers with 25 points for the Jets, while a combination of Michael New and Jamison led the Lions scoring with 17.

Poujoulat Heat Guildford 118 (31,58,93) (Nottley 28, Wardrope 20, Jones 17)
Barkers (Tarring) Worthing Thunder 69 (18,34,55) (Woodfork 16, Mooney 15, Brame 12)

Poujoulat Heat Guildford maintained their 100% record in the group stages of the BBL Trophy thanks to a comfortable 118-69 victory over EBL side Barkers (Tarring) Worthing Thunder at the Guildford Spectrum on Sunday afternoon.

The Heat stamped their authority on the game in the opening exchanges, and a 17-2 burst took the score out to 24-8 midway through the opening period.

The Heat continue to stretch their lead, and a 12-2 tear in the second took the score out to 49-25. The Heat went in at the half leading 58-34.

The second half saw the home side enjoy runs of 7-0 and 11-0 to lead 89-48 midway through the third period, and despite the visitors restricting the home side's scoring in the final quarter, a 14-4 finish to the game for the Heat saw them run out comfortable winners.

Jon Nottley led all scorers in the game with 28 points for the Heat, while Cleve Woodfork led the Worthing scorers with 16.

 SAMG Verve Scottish Rocks 86 (19,43,66) (Wohlers 21, Hampton 19, Davis 14)
Everton Tigers 79 (16,31,49) (Davis 18, Midgley 17, Miller 12)

The SAMG Verve Scottish Rocks picked up their first win of their BBL Trophy campaign after an 86-79 victory over the Everton Tigers at the Braehead Arena on Sunday evening.

In a game where the Rocks never trailed, the home side stretched out to an eleven point lead at 33-22 off the back of three three-pointers from Moritz Wohlers.

A 7-2 close to the first half took the Rocks out to a 43-31 lead into the locker rooms at the half.

In the second half, it was the Tigers who came out strong, and an 11-2 run closed the deficit to six points at 48-42, but the Rocks responded immediately with a 7-0 tear to lead 55-42. The Rocks closed out the third period with an 11-2 burst of their own to lead 66-49 going into the final stanza.

In the final period, the Rocks enjoyed their biggest lead of the game at 78-58 with five minutes remaining. A combination of David Aliu and Tony Miller valiantly attempted to get the visitors back into the game, but could not close the deficit fully as the Rocks ran out eventual winners.

Moritz Wohlers led all scorers in the game with 21 points for the Rocks, while Calvin Davis led the Tigers scoring with 18.

05-01-08

Birmingham Panthers 61 (14,35,48) (L Williams 18, A Williams 16, Paternostro 13)
Sheffield Sharks          78 (23,44,65) (Chaney 31, Graham 13, Lyons 11)

Sheffield Sharks secured their first win of 2008 and with it their first BBL Trophy victory of the season with a comfortable 61-78 triumph at Birmingham Panthers.

Sharks were in control throughout after fighting their way back from going down 8-0 at the start of the match. A 23-6 burst ended the first quarter for a 14-23 lead for the visitors.

After leading 35-44 at half time the Sharks made the game safe with a 10-0 tear round the third quarter break to put them 69-48 in front.

The Panthers had no answer to Sharks big man Shelby Chaney who poured in a game-high 31- points.

Kularoos Plymouth Raiders                  92 (31,52,74) (Beasley 20, Knowle 18, Durham 11)
Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders 54 (7,16,35) (Wellington 15, Woodyard 13, McKnight 7)

A massive first quarter performance formed the backbone of Kularoos Plymouth Raiders thumping 92- 54 home win against Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders.

Needing a victory to give the Trophy holders a realistic chance of retaining their crown the Raiders came out fast against a shell-shocked Riders side. A 16-0 start to the match ensured they held a healthy 31-7 first quarter lead.

The advantage was rammed home in the second quarter as Riders were once again held to single digits for a 52-16 half time score. Although Leicester almost matched Plymouth after the interval it was too little too late.

Raiders' DeAntoine Beasley led all-scorers with 20. Rod Wellington's 15 was the highlight for Leicester.

04-01-08

Marshall MK Lions                90 (22,37,61) (Williams 27, Windless 18, Jamison 17)
Kularoos Plymouth Raiders 80 (19,38,55) (Beasley 15, Durham 15, Lasker 15)

The Marshall MK Lions took charge of BBL Trophy Group 1 as they defeated the Kularoos Plymouth Raiders, who are reigning Trophy champions, by 90-80 at Bletchley on Friday.

Lions' seventh consecutive win was inspired by 7 three-pointers from Yorick Williams, on his way to a game-high 27 points for the night. Tony Windless added 18 and Shawn Jamison had 17. Terrence Durham led the visitors with 15 points and a massive 21 rebounds.

A tight first quarter saw the Lions edge in front as Tony Windless scored 8 consecutive points for his team to give them an 18-12 lead, only for a Gavin Love triple to peg them back as the Raiders finished the first quarter with just a 22-19 deficit.

The Lions pushed on in the second stanza and led 32-27. However, an 11-5 push to finish the half gave the Raiders the lead at 37-38 going into the locker room.

The home team made a decisive move early in the third as an 8-1 opening, inspired by Shawn Jamison, saw them regain the lead before back-to-back triples from Williams extended it to double-digits at 55-44, which they maintained through to 61-55 going into the decisive quarter.

The Newcastle Eagles scored another crucial win over their biggest rivals, the SAMG Verve Scottish Rocks, in beating them 113-89 at the MetroRadio Arena to go to 2-0 in BBL Trophy Group 4. This was Newcastle's sixth consecutive win and gives them a significant advantage in the group.

Olu Babalola, Andrew Bridge, and Jeremt Hyatt were influential as they scored 21 points each for the Eagles. Player/coach Sterling Davis led from the front with 19 points in vain for the Rocks.

The Eagles held the early advantage at 13-8, before 6 straight points from the visitors put them in front at 13-14. The Eagles posted a late 7-0 tear to take a 27-23 lead by the end of the first quarter, one that they would not relinquish.

The hosts led 35-34 in the second before Olu Babalola (6) and Charles Smith (5) combined in a 13-0 surge that gave them a comfortable 48-34 lead, which became 53-38 going into the locker rooms.

Andrew Bridge and Jeremy Hyatt controlled the third stanza. Bridge shot 9/10 from the free-throw line on his way to 11 third quarter points, whilst Hyatt connected on four three-pointers to put the game beyond the Rocks at 84-60.

As points difference counts in the BBL Trophy, the Eagles kept up the pressure late in the game and broke through the 100-point barrier as they eased to the victory.

Poujoulat Heat Guildford 102 (27,54,75) (Gilbert 21, Harrison 12, Williams 11)
PAWS London Capital        67 (24,33,54) (Gariba 17, Ataha 17, Ogedengbe 13)

Poujoulat Heat Guildford made it the best possible start to the New Year with a comfortable102-67 home win against PAWS London Capital in the BBL Trophy group stage.

Both sides shared runs of 10-0 during a high scoring first quarter which Heat took 27-24. Paul James' side broke the match open in the second period with a 20- 4 burst that took the score to 47- 30 - Daniel Gilbert notched 12 during the run. A further 7-0 tear ensured Heat were well in control 54-33 at half time.

Further Heat dominance in the third with runs of 9-2 and 8-2 were only punctured by an 11-0 bursts by Capital as the closed to 75-54 at the end of the third. However, a 9-2 run to start the final stanza put the match beyond doubt and ensured it was Heat who began 2008 with a victory.

29-12-07

Kularoos Plymouth Raiders 74 (16,37,57) (Bishop 17, Martin 16, Noel 13)
BiG Storage Cheshire Jets 71 (16,34,54) (Myers 17, Otten 16, Obazuaye 16)

A hard-fought game between the reigning BBL Trophy champions, the Kularoos Plymouth Raiders, and the BiG Storage Cheshire Jets, who won the competition for four consecutive years between 2001-2004, saw the Raiders come out on top by 74-71, taking them to the head of group 1 in the process.

The backcourt pairing of Brody Bishop, who had 17 points, and Anthony Martin, who had 16 points, carried the Raiders to the victory, whilst James Noel contributed 13. Shawn Myers led the Jets with 17 on the night.

The teams could barely be separated in the early stages as they played out a 16-16 first quarter. With the Jets taking an early second stanza lead at 17-18, Bishop's 5 points and 4 from Terrence Durham helped the home side on a 10-3 burst that gave them a lead they would maintain through to the half at 37- 34.

The Jets came back in the third period and after tying the game at 39, two scores from Jayson Obazuaye and a bucket from Matt Otten gave them a lead as large as 39-45 on an 11-2 opening to the third quarter. However, that didn't last long as a further triple from Bishop and 5 points from Martin ignited a 12-4 response and saw the home side snatch the lead back at 51-49, which became 57-54 going into the decisive stanza.

Once in the fourth, the Raiders had the better of the opening exchanges and 7 points from Martin helped them to stretch their lead to 70-63. The Jets clawed their way back and looked to rescue the game late on; an Obazuaye score brought it back to 74-71 and the same player looked to tie the game with a last-gasp three-pointer, only to see it rim out and condemn the Jets to their second away defeat in the 2007/08 BBL Trophy.

28-12-07

Everton Tigers 94 (31,51,67) (Aliu 31, Midgley 24, Robertson 13)
Newcastle Eagles 99 (28,54,86) (Smith 38, Stewart 17, Babalola/Hyatt 15)

Newcastle Eagles signed off 2007 in style with a hard- fought 94-99 win at Everton Tigers to open their BBL Trophy campaign on a positive note.

A delayed tip-off may have caused problems for the Eagles warm up routine but they managed to stay in contact with a hot shooting Tigers to trail just 31-28 at the end of the first quarter.

Led by a superb effort by Charles Smith the Eagles had taken the lead (51-54) by half time and they exploded in the third quarter to go ahead 67-86 with the final stanza remaining.

Tigers worked patiently to cut into the 19-point deficit and following a three-point play by Calvin Davis and a bucket by David Aliu the gap was just three (85-88). However, Lynard Stewart responded to give Eagles some breathing space and they closed out Everton to seal the win.

All eyes were on former Eagles point-guard Richard Midgley. The Great Britain international scored 24- points on 9/14 from the field including 3/4 from beyond the three-point line.

22-12-07

PAWS London Capital       (20, 38, 61) (Bradley 22, Ogedengbe 16, Garbia/Fohler 15)

Poujoulat Heat Guildford  (14, 41, 61) (Dorsey 21, Deng 19, Harrison 13)

Poujoulat Heat Guildford got their BBL Trophy campaign off to a winning start with a 77-83 road victory at PAWS London Capital.

Capital began the stronger of the teams as a 12-2 run at the beginning of the first quarter helped them to a 20-14 lead after ten minutes. Capital stretched out with a 9-4 opening to the second quarter before Heat hit back to close the half with a 16-2 burst, including seven from Tony Dorsey, to lead 38-41 at half time.

Capital regained the lead with a 9-0 run midway through the third quarter but a 9-2 tear by Guildford to end the quarter, with two threes by Ajou Deng, tied the match at 61-61.

Deng began the final stanza with another three and two 6-2 runs in the final minutes closed out the match in Paul James’ team’s favour.

21-12-07

Sheffield Sharks 121 (29,60,81) (Graham 26, Chaney 25, Lyons 24)
Worcester Wolves 125 (39,67,97) (Life/Paez 32, Harker 21)

Worcester Wolves got their 2007-8 BBL Trophy campaign off to a winning start with an amazing 121- 125 shoot-out victory over the Sheffield Sharks at the EIS, Sheffield on Friday night.

The Wolves led 100- 114 before the Sharks trimmed the deficit back to seven points off the back of a 9-2 tear midway through the final quarter to bring the score to 109-116.

A further 7-0 run got the Sharks to within two points at 121-123 with 20 seconds remaining, but James Life sealed the Wolves' victory from the free-throw line.

 Earlier in the game, the Wolves enjoyed an 11-4 burst in the opening period to take the score out to 27-39 towards the end of the quarter.

The home side trimmed the deficit to four points at 52-56 off the back of an 8-0 run in the second period, but the Wolves held onto a seven point advantage at 60-67 going in at the half.

The third quarter saw the Wolves increase their lead once again to sixteen points at 73-89 off the back of another 7-0 run in the third period, before the action really hotted up in the final ten minutes of the game.

Life and Anthony Paez led all scorers in the game with 32 points each for the Wolves, while Justice Graham led the Sharks scoring with 26.

20-12-07

Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders 78 (18,36,54) (Janiska 21, Jordan 17, McKnight 12)
Kularoos Plymouth Raiders                  86 (24,45,65) (Moore 20, Beasley 19, Gall 15)

Kularoos Plymouth Raiders got their defence of the BBL Trophy off to a winning start thanks to a 78-86 victory over the Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders at the John Sanford Centre on Thursday evening.

The Riders opened the game with the first three points, but this was to be their only lead of the evening as the Raiders went on a 14-0 burst midway through the opening period to lead 3-14.

The home side closed out the opening period with a 7-0 tear of their own to trail 18-24.

Both sides traded baskets throughout the next two quarters, but the Raiders maintained their lead at 54-65 going into the final stanza.

In the final quarter, the visitors opened with a 5-2 burst to take the score out to 56-70, but the Riders trimmed the deficit back to six points at 64-70 off the back of an 8-0 response.

The home side valiantly attempted to get themselves closer, but could not do so as the Raiders ran out eventual winners.

Gaylon Moore led the Raiders scoring with 20 points, but it was Mindaugas Janiska who led all scorers in the game with 21 points for the Riders.

19-12-07

Marshall MK Lions 89 (27,47,63) (Griffin 17, Y Williams 14, New 13)
BiG Storage Cheshire Jets 75 (22,42,57) (Obazuaye 22, Myers/Pratt 16)

Marshall MK Lions extended their unbeaten run to six games in all competitions thanks to an 89-75 victory over the BiG Storage Cheshire Jets in their opening game of the BBL Trophy Group stages campaign.

In a game where the home side never trailed, it was Kevin Griffin and Michael New who got the Lions going to put them ahead 13-7 early on, and the Lions held a 27-22 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Both sides traded baskets throughout the second period, but the Lions maintained a five-point advantage at 47- 42 going in at half-time.

The second half the Jets begin to edge into the Lions lead, and back-to-back three-pointers to close out the third period trimmed the deficit to six points at 63-57 going into the final stanza.

In the final period, it was the home side who began to pull away from their visitors with some tremendous three-point shooting from Dru Spinks and Yorrick Williams as the Lions edged out to a 72- 64 lead. Griffin made sure of the victory for the Lions as he netted the last four points of the game to hand Milton Keynes the victory.

Griffin led the Lions scoring with 17 points, but it was Jason Obazuaye who led all scorers in the game bagging 22 points personal for the Jets.

01-12-07