Bristol start in style. Wolves take Eagles, Giants beat Sharks

Quote of the Week

The challenges heading into these first few games will be that our scouting on the opposition will be limited. Durham and Manchester have made changes in their roster and it will be interesting to see how we match up. Both teams always have competitive squads so we can’t take them lightly.Sharks’ Forward Mike Tuck

Wolves start season with a monster result

BBL Championship
Esh Group Eagles Newcastle 81 (24,49,62) (Lasker 16, Thomson 15, Fletcher 12)
Worcester Wolves 86 (25,48,62) (Thurman 27, Williams 13, Dibo 12)

The 2014/15 BBL season started as the previous season finished: with Worcester Wolves defeating Esh Group Eagles Newcastle, this time 81-86 in the North East in this early clash between two of the title favourites.

Wolves beat Eagles in last season’s Playoff final, but it was a new face who did the damage tonight as big man Robert Thurman stormed onto the BBL stage with a double-double of 27 points and 13 rebounds, including 9/10 free-throws. The Wolves shot 42% from three-point range, led by another debutant Remi Dibo with 4/7 triples for 12 points.

As would be expected in a game between last season’s league winners (Eagles) and playoff winners (Wolves), this game was tight throughout and the teams were rarely split by more than a single shot – with the exception of a 13-5 burst from the hosts early in the second – as they entered the fourth quarter tied at 62.

Once in the fourth, the hosts still led by one point entering the last two minutes. But it was Dibo’s final and decisive triple that proved crucial, giving the Wolves a 78-80 edge, before Thurman scored the last six points for his team to keep the Eagles at arm’s length thereafter.

Sharks start the season with a W

BBL Championship
Sheffield Sharks 83 (20,39,63) (Payne 20, Gachette 13, Lewis 13)
Durham Wildcats 70 (19,29,50) (Knight 21, Puk 11, Jones 10)

Sheffield Sharks started the new BBL Championship campaign, their twentieth in the league, with a commanding 83-70 defeat of Durham Wildcats at the English Institute of Sport.

Allen Payne had a highly impressive debut for last season’s BBL Championship runners-up with 20 points on 73% shooting from the field. He was supported by young Brits Zach Gachette and Nick Lewis, who scored 13 each. Tom Knight led the Wildcats with a double-double of 21 points and 10 rebounds.

It was a low-scoring start to the game until a flurry of three-pointers, and the Sharks asserted themselves on the game from the second quarter. Veteran Mike Tuck set the tone with two early baskets and the lead reached double-digits at 33-23 when Colin Sing came from the bench to hit a three-pointer in what became nine unanswered points.

The Wildcats did score seven in a row in the third quarter to trim the lead to four points at 47-43 on Sam Martin’s three-pointer. But Olu Babalola immediately responded in-kind and the Sharks never looked back, establishing a 63-50 lead with ten minutes to play, with the lead peaking at 83-64 on another Babalola score.

London Lions off to a flyer

BBL Championship
Surrey United 73 (19,38,54) (Knutson 18, Setty 17, Crecco 12)
London Lions 89 (18,48,70) (Stibbins 27, Sturt 18, Ikhinmwin 15)

London Lions started the 2014/15 BBL Championship campaign – one in which they are tipped as contenders – with a commanding road win, 73-89 at Surrey United.

Lions overcame the absence of their new signing, last season’s league MVP Zaire Taylor, as they were led by a dominant double-double of 27 points and 12 rebounds by centre Makal Stibbins, on a night when they scored 60 points in the paint.

Joe Ikhinmwin had the honour of scoring the first points of the BBL season, but despite his three-pointer sparking an early run, United led after the first ten minutes with Trevor Setty and Erick Forson hitting triples of their own.

But Lions dominated the middle of the game to set up this win, largely thanks to another marquee summer signing in highly decorated BBL veteran and GB international Drew Sullivan. He scored five points late in the first half in a 10-2 surge up to half time that sent the Lions in at 38-48.

And they opened the third quarter with an 8-3 spell, making the run 20-5 in total, as Ikhinmwin and Adrien Sturt scored four points each, to give the Lions a 41-56 lead that would not be threatened thereafter.

Flyers announce their arrival in style

BBL Championship
Bristol Flyers 65 (21,33,46) (Bland 14, McLaughlin-Williams 14, Herring 9)
Plymouth University Raiders 56 (11,27,44) (Medlock 12, Robinson 12, Wilcher 11)

It was an historic night in the South West as Bristol Flyers won their opening game in the BBL Championship, 65-56 in somewhat of a South West derby against Plymouth University Raiders. Flyers have made the step up from EBL Division 1 this season; the same move that their opponents made exactly ten years ago.

Strong first and fourth quarters saw the Flyers to victory, with Doug McLaughlin-Williams scoring crucial baskets on his way to 14 points, matched by team-mate Alif Bland who also snatched eight rebounds.

The score indicates impressive defence from the hosts, and that was the foundation for them hitting the ground running in the BBL as they scored the first seven points of the game and went on to lead 11-2 with four points each for Bland and Doug Herring.

But they were pegged back thereafter, and Raiders came back to lead for the first time in the second half as Nick George scored five points and Flyers couldn’t register in four minutes.

McLaughlin-Williams kept their noses in front with a buzzer-beating three-pointer to end the third quarter, and that proved to be their inspiration. The same player opened the fourth quarter in the same manner and the Flyers never looked back as an 11-4 run followed and Mathias Seilund’s triple saw the lead reach 62-54.

Riders too much for Manchester Giants

BBL Championship
Leicester Riders 104 (21,44,79) (Bernardini 25, Watson 24, Hassan 14)
Manchester Giants 82 (20,46,59) (Watts 16, Best 14, Eaves 14)

Leicester Riders started their campaign to regain the BBL Championship title in emphatic fashion, scoring an opening night century in the East Midlands as they beat Manchester Giants 104-82.

Leicester’s new backcourt of Tyler Bernardini (25) and Neil Watson (24) combined for nearly half of those points – with the latter also dishing out seven assists – and it was they who proved to be match-winners in the decisive third quarter. Riders shot 56% from the field, with Barry Lamble adding 12 points and seven rebounds.

But it was a slow start for the hosts, as Stefan Gill and David Watts hit three-pointers to put Giants 2-10 up and, despite Jamall Anderson scoring four in a row to bring the Riders back, they still trailed 37-44 approaching half time on Connor Murtagh’s triple.

Coach Rob Paternostro must have delivered his first half time rallying call of the campaign, as the Riders were unstoppable after the break. They scored the first 12 points of the second half, including five for Pavol Losonsky, and really found their range as Watson and Bernardini took charge of the game.

Watson scored four three-pointers in what became a stunning 24-6 surge in the space of little over five minutes and, with the score at 68-52, there was no way back for the Giants.

Riders make it a double weekend

BBL Championship
Cheshire Phoenix 59 (13, 21, 33) (Watts 21, Karp 21, Aliu 7)
Leicester Riders 65 (25,39,46) (Watson 16, Bernardini 16, Losonsky 11)

Leicester Riders survived a Cheshire Phoenix fight-back to hang on for a 65-59 triumph on the road on Sunday and record their second victory in as many nights.

Coach Rob Paternostro’s patented brand of shutdown defence provided the basis for Riders to build an 18-point lead early in the second half.

But Cheshire were far from done and reduced the advantage to a single point with seven minutes to play when Devan Bailey got to the line and made two free shots.

Conner Washington responded instantly with an important three-pointer to put the visitors back in the ascendency and this gave them the momentum to re-establish a seven-point lead off the back of Rashad Hassan’s jump shot – and that was enough to get them over the line.

Neil Watson and Tyler Bernardini continued their impressive start to life with Leicester as they scored 16 points each while Jamell Anderson reeled in 10 boards and had four steals.

Brad Karp and Demond Watts spearheaded Cheshire’s resistance as they both scored 21 points but Phoenix were a man down, missing Matt Pyke, and Riders demonstrated their strength in depth, recovering sufficiently from Saturday’s 104-82 success against Manchester to make it two from two.

Wildcats whup lowly Force

BBL Championship
Durham Wildcats 80 (20, 37, 55) (Mayindombe 19, Knight 12, Bucci 11)
Leeds Force 46 (12, 19, 36) (Bethune 11, Anebo 10, Hylands 7)

Durham Wildcats bounced back from their opening night loss at Sheffield Sharks with a ruthless 80-46 home success against BBL rookies Leeds Force on Sunday.

Force’s first game in the BBL since stepping up from England Basketball Division One in the summer served as steep learning curve as a number of Wildcats’ new faces impressed on their first appearance at Newton Aycliffe and the hosts seized the initiative in the second quarter.

Wildcats enjoyed their best BBL campaign last term, reaching the Play-offs for the first time, but have a much-changed roster for the 2014-15 season.

One of those newcomers, guard Chris Jones, orchestrated the offence in their first home game of the season, finishing with 10 assists to go with his eight points while Panos Mayindombe poured in a game-high 19 points off 79% field-goal shooting.

Leeds connected on just 33% of their shots from the floor and were paced by Darrel Bethune’s 11 points off the bench.

But it was Wildcats’ ability to make their opponents pay for their mistakes that really made the difference as Lee Davie’s side scored 39 of their points from Force’s turnovers.

Sensational start to the season by Flyers

BBL Championship
Glasgow Rocks 62 (19, 42, 53) (Egwuonwu 15, Smith 13, Freeman 11)
Bristol Flyers 79 (21, 35, 56) (McLaughin-Williams 20, Herring 18, Bland 12)

Bristol Flyers outscored Glasgow Rocks 23-9 in the fourth quarter to pull away for a 79-62 victory at the Emirates Arena on Sunday and make it two wins from two in their opening BBL weekend.

The game swayed on way then the other in the opening three periods to the point that the visitors went into the final 10 minutes holding a slender 56-53 advantage.

But Andreas Kapoulas’s side came out firing in the final stanza and started on a 9-2 run to give them a 10-point lead with six minutes to play.

Roy Owen connected on the big triple that helped to open up that decisive advantage, and it was his only score of the night.

But there were big performances across the board for Bristol, who had beaten Plymouth Raiders 65-56 in their BBL debut on Saturday night.

Doug McLaughin-Williams led all scorers with 20 points, as well as eight rebounds while Doug Herring also had 15 and six for Flyers.

Rocks relied on Paul Egwuonwu for the bulk of their scoring but just couldn’t keep up with the Flyers in the fourth.

Giants bounce back to defeat Sharks

BBL Championship
Manchester Giants 76 (20, 30, 46) (Gill 24, Jones 13, Murtagh 12)
Sheffield Sharks 72 (16, 32, 50) (Holmes 20, Lewis 17, Babalola 12)

Manchester Giants marked their first BBL game at a new home with a hard-fought 76-72 victory against last year’s runners-up Sheffield Sharks on Sunday.

Giants entered the fourth quarter of their opening game at the Lucozade Powerleague Trafford Sportsdome trailing 50-46 before David Watts and Connor Murtagh began to find their range.

Two of Murtagh’s 12 points opened up a nine-point lead with five minutes to play but Sharks are well versed in what it takes to win in this league and clawed back within two points when Allen Payne followed up BJ Holmes’ and-one play with a made jumper inside the final minute.

Giant coach Jeff Jones called a time-out and out of the huddle Stefan Gill drained an important two that would give his team the impetus to hold on for their first win of the season as Sharks were forced to send their hosts to the foul line.

Murtagh was one of the standout performers for Giants on his home debut while Gill was the star with 24 points to top his clutch performance.

Holmes led Sharks with 20 while Nick Lewis hit four three-pointers from the bench as he tallied 18 points.

Raiders defeat Surrey United

BBL Championship
Plymouth Raiders 94 (22, 48, 71) (Evans 28, Medlock 15, Robinson 14)
Surrey United 74 (13, 33, 46) (Setty, Knutson 18, Crecco 18)

David Evans introduced himself to the Plymouth Raiders fans by hitting all six of his three-pointers en route to a game-high 28 points as Raiders beat Surrey United 94-74 on Sunday and claimed their first win of the season.

Evans connected on four triples in quick succession during the decisive second-quarter run that put Raiders in front 48-33 at half-time, and in complete control – having lost their opening game at Bristol Flyers on Saturday.

United also lost their opener, to London Lions on Saturday, and they did their best to hit back after the break, feeding Kramer Knutson in the paint at every opportunity but Raiders maintained their advantage as Emile Hopkins beat the third quarter buzzer to make it 71-56.

United improved in the final period as some of Trevor Setty’s shots started to fall on his return to Plymouth.

But the hosts, playing without star guard Brent Benson, never allowed the lead to drop into single figures as five of their players scored in double figures, Evans connecting on 91% of his field goal attempts while Raiders shot 54% as a team.

This page was updated to our new design on 20 February 2015