QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“London, in terms of personnel, are up there with the very best and if they play connected they are an immediate title contender.

“They have only recently got their unit together and I imagine that, come Sunday, with another week under their belt, they will be firing on all cylinders.

“We can’t be nervous about matching up with these teams and the respective talent they boast. We have to look at ourselves first and prepare with a purpose and every time that’s to disrupt what they do best, as a team and individuals, and improve how we execute ourselves.”

MATT NEWBY

FORCE HEAD COACH

Three of the top four were in BBL Championship action on Friday night, with Esh Group Eagles Newcastle and Worcester Wolves maintaining the pace at the summit, while Bristol Flyers moved to the verge of the top four.

The Eagles overcame their old foe, Glasgow Rocks, with a 103-93 victory at Sports Central as Charles Smith became the fifth highest all-time scorer in the BBL, leading the way with 23 points.

Eagles have now won eight league games in a row.

The Wolves had to survive a resurgent fourth quarter to beat fourth-placed Manchester Giants 90-81 in the Midlands, with talisman Alex Owumi leading them with a barrage from three-point range.

Both teams came into the game on three consecutive wins, and the Wolves maintain an unbeaten home record.

Finally, Bristol Flyers ended a run of four straight defeats on the road to beat Leeds Force 58-73, Douglas McLaughlin Williams and Doug Herring scoring 18 points each.

Saturday’s action in the BBL Championship saw Worcester Wolves complete a back-to-back with another victory, while Bristol Flyers couldn’t do the same after running out of steam late in the second half.

The second-placed Wolves, now 7-1, extended their winning streak to five games with a 78-62 victory over Surrey United, who find themselves second from the bottom having lost the last five games.

Remi Dibo provided the spark off the bench for Worcester with a team-high 21 points, while Kirk Crecco collected 23 points for Surrey.

Meanwhile, Flyers could not follow up Friday’s victory against Leeds Force, with another win, losing to Cheshire Phoenix 73-86 after wasting a 17-point third quarter lead.

Taylor King led Phoenix with 27 points and 12 rebounds, as Doug McLaughin-Williams scored a team-high 22 points for the losing side.

It was a night of dramatic finishes in the BBL on Sunday with Ralph Bucci’s buzzer beater the pick of the bunch.

Bucci’s three-pointer as time expired halted Durham Wildcats’ three-game slide with an enthralling 70-67 victory against Manchester Giants at Newton Aycliffe.

The hosts looked like edging a game that had swung one way then the other, until Stefan Gill tied things up at 67 with a triple of his own inside the final 45 seconds to tee up a grandstand finish.

A Bucci turnover then allowed Callum Jones a shot at the win for the visitors with five seconds to play.

But he was unable to connect and Bucci snatched his chance to steal the show, and the win, as Wildcats ended Giants’ three-game winning run.

Riders made it three wins in a row with a 81-78 success at Glasgow Rocks, avenging their defeat in the same fixture last month.

Tyler Bernardini’s was Riders’ hero with a couple of clutch baskets to in the closing stages.

Cheshire Phoenix closed on a 9-2 tear to claim victory 104-98 at home against Plymouth Raiders while London Lions recovered from a slow start to beat Leeds Force 78-70 behind 26 points from Zaire Taylor.