Regulation wins for Eagles & Riders

Riders action. Library Photo

The Eagles overcame bottom-placed Surrey United 76-97 in the South East as Scott Martin hit a season-high 28 points, seeing his team remain unbeaten since September – a run of nineteen games – thereby extending their lead at the top of the BBL Championship to six points.

In the East Midlands, Leicester moved up to third place with a comfortable 74-54 win over Leeds Force. Rashad Hassan scored 20 points, and Neil Watson, who leads the league in assists, laid on 17 as he controlled the game. The Riders now face a trip to the CopperBox to face London Lions on Sunday.

Quote of the Week

Giants’ Head Coach Jeff Jones. Photo by Jack Hinds Photography.

Cheshire have strengthened since the last time we played them and talent-wise they are the second strongest team in the league, behind Newcastle, and that may only be because Newcastle, as a core of players, have been together longer.

For us to win, we have to not miss a shot, give up no turnovers and get every rebound on the defensive end of the floor, and then we may have a chance, but as always we won’t quit and we do all we can to win.Giant’s Head Coach Jeff Jones

Riders too hot for bouyant Leeds Force

BBL Championship

Leicester Riders 74 (28,46,61) (Hassan 20, Wright 14, Washington 13)
Leeds Force 54 (16,30,45) (Hall 15, Attah 9, McCann 9)

Riders Head Coach Rob Paternostro. Library Photo

Leicester Riders overpowered Leeds Force to move back into third place in the BBL Championship table, after a 74-54 victory live on BBL TV on Saturday night. The Riders have won three of their last four games, bouncing back from a first home defeat of the season in their last outing; while Force fell short of back-to-back wins for the first time this season, having won a Yorkshire derby against Sheffield Sharks on Friday night.

The Riders scored a third of their points (24) from the 22 turnovers that they squeezed out of the Force. And they were led by 20 points from Rashad Hassan, while Neil Watson, who leads the league in assists, scored just five points but dished out 17 assists as he managed the game for the Riders.

And it was he who threw up the pass for Trayvon Wright to open the game with an alley-oop, sparking a 12-0 start from which Leicester never looked back. Wright blocked a shot, as Leeds didn’t score for the opening five minutes, before scoring at the other end as he had six in that early run to add to the six of Hassan.

Will Hall got Leeds going with an ‘and-one’ play, but he was their only player to score in double figures on the night, with 15 points. And Leicester’s lead reached 28-16 at the end of the first quarter when Yorick Williams came from the bench to hit a long three-pointer.

Force started the second stanza well, but Barry Lamble restored Riders’ double digit lead, before Connor Washington’s pair of three-pointers and Wright’s dunk made it 46-26, after a 9-0 tear. Washington had 11 first half points as he made all of his first four shots, including three triples.

And Riders were not threatened in a fairly even second half. Leeds got as close as 15 when James McCann hit a three-pointer, but Tyler Bernardini reinstated Leicester’s twenty point advantage as he stole the ball from an inbounds for an easy score. The lead peaked at 72-48 in the fourth quarter.

Eagles move to 19 wins in a row

BBL Championship

Surrey United 76 (24,37,56) (Knutson 22, Dusha 16, Downing 13)
Esh Group Eagles Newcastle 97 (19,42,74) (Martin 28, Thomson 19, Fletcher 14)

Eagles in action. Library photo.

Esh Group Eagles Newcastle have moved six points clear at the top of the BBL Championship after a 76-97 road win at Surrey United on Saturday night. It was their nineteenth consecutive win in all competitions, and their fifth straight against United over the last eighteen months.

It was also the twelfth time that the league’s leading scorers – they average 10 points more per game than any other side – have scored more than ninety points in a game this season. On this occasion they were led by Scott Martin, for the third time this campaign, with his highest tally of 28 points; while Rahmon Fletcher added 14 points and nine assists. Both teams shot the ball well on the night, with the Eagles shooting 50% from the field, and 47% from three-point range, with Andy Thomson hitting three of his four triples on his way to 19 points.

United have now lost five in a row, but the start of the game didn’t go to form as the hosts posted a first quarter 13-2 burst to lead 24-13 as Anthony Downing and Kramer Knutson scored four each. Fletcher and Martin cut the lead immediately for the visitors, but they still trailed 31-25 midway through the second stanza.

From there the Eagles took charge: Thomson hit back-to-back three-pointers, before Martin did the same, in a lightning 12-0 burst over a two minute spell that turned that deficit into a 31-37 lead.

The hosts stayed in the game until midway through the third quarter, when five more points from Fletcher inspired a 15-5 spell and a 53-65 lead for Newcastle. And the third quarter proved decisive as they put 31 points on the board, and ended it with a 13-3 push to lead 56-73 going into the final ten minutes.

There was to be no way back for United, as the lead peaked at 65-94 on Fab Flournoy’s basket, after Stuart Thomson had come from the bench to score the last five in another 14 unanswered points early in the fourth.