League leaders Esh Group Eagles Newcastle continued their impressive form, defeating Sheffield Sharks 97-84 behind Andre Jones’ 30-point effort. Scott Martin chipped in with 19 points and 11 rebounds as Eagles improved to a 19-2 mark.

Cheshire Phoenix returned to winning ways with a 79-68 win against the visiting Bristol Flyers at the Northgate Arena. Having had their 11-game winning streak snapped by Sharks last weekend, Phoenix bounced right back, with Taylor King recording a huge double-double of 28 points and 15 boards

Meanwhile, Glasgow Rocks got a positive result against their table neighbours Manchester Giants, picking up a 90-85 win. Keiron Achara was the go-to man for the Scottish side with 23 points, 12 rebounds and six assists, as Rocks won an important duel against a team also battling for playoff berth.

Former Rock, Fran Urli stole the spotlight in the BBL Championship on Sunday with a game-winning buzzer-beater to give Durham Wildcats a much-needed boost in the league table.

Led by Joel Madourie, who scored a team-high 24 points, Wildcats snuck away with a 76-75 victory against Surrey United at the Newton Aycliffe Leisure Centre. Dominique Coleman scored 30 points in a losing effort for United, but even that was not enough, as Urli’s clutch basket decided the outcome.


Friday 30 January 2015
BBL Championship – Results
Newcastle Eagles 123 – 101 Plymouth Raiders 19:30
Leeds Force 73 – 79 Sheffield Sharks 19:30
London Lions 78 – 65 Bristol Flyers 19:30
Worcester Wolves 71 – 70 Surrey United 19:30
Saturday 31 January 2015
BBL Trophy QF – Result
Leicester Riders 80 – 71 Worcester Wolves 19:30
Sunday 1 February 2015
BBL Championship – Results
Cheshire Phoenix 79 – 68 Bristol Flyers 17:30
Durham Wildcats 76 – 75 Surrey United 16:00
Glasgow Rocks 90 – 85 Manchester Giants 17:00
Sheffield Sharks 84 – 97 Newcastle Eagles 15:15

P Team PL W L Pts
1 Esh Group Eagles Newcastle 21 19 2 38
2 Worcester Wolves 22 18 4 36
3 Leicester Riders 19 16 3 32
4 Cheshire Phoenix 21 15 6 30
5 London Lions 19 11 8 22
6 Sheffield Sharks 21 10 11 20
7 Glasgow Rocks 19 9 10 18
8 Durham Wildcats 22 8 14 16
8 Manchester Giants 22 8 14 16
10 Bristol Flyers 23 8 15 16
11 Plymouth University Raiders 20 6 14 12
12 Leeds Force 23 5 18 10
13 Surrey United 22 4 18 8
2014/15 League Table

Quote of the Week

Mike Cook. Photo by MPhotography

Mike Cook. Photo by MPhotography

I’ve heard that they are a young team that plays extremely hard.

The main thing that we need to do is match their energy from the start. We have been playing so well and want to just continue to get better and close out some of the close games a little better with wins.Sharks’ Guard Mike Cook


Sharks getting back into their stride

BBL Championship
Leeds Force 73 (15,29,48) (Attah 22, Mikulic 12, Anebo 10)
Sheffield Sharks 79 (17,32,56) (Cook 23, Tuck 17, Babalola 11)
Mike Cook getting Sharks back in their stride. Library photo.

Mike Cook getting Sharks back in their stride. Library photo.

Sheffield Sharks prevailed through a tight Yorkshire derby to beat Leeds Force 73-79, avenging a previous defeat earlier this month and securing the season head-to-head between the rivals. Sharks have now won back-to-back BBL Championship games and six of their last seven on the road.

The teams were barely separated through the first half, Sharks edging it 29-32 at the break. And they seemed to have broken the game open early in the third quarter as Mike Tuck hit the first five points in a run of ten unanswered that made the score 34-44.

Leeds hit back, but the backcourt pairing of Mike Cook and Nick Lewis scored consecutively to keep the Sharks ahead at 48-56 heading into the decisive fourth quarter.

But Leeds – who have now lost five of their last six games – burst out of the blocks to set up a tight finish, as Branimir Mikulic hit back-to-back three-pointers and, soon after, Armand Anebo tied the game at 56. Force looked as though they had completed their comeback when Anebo scored again to give them the lead again at 67-65 with 2.16 to play.

But Sharks were resolute, with John Barber immediately responding with a three-pointer that put the visitors back in front, and halted Leeds in their tracks. Cook added a score and then it was down to he and BJ Holmes to see the game out from the free-throw line.

Cook led all scorers with 23 points, supported by 17 points and 8 rebounds for Mike Tuck.


Sullivan back to lead Lions to victory

BBL Championship
London Lions 78 (23,46,62) (Sullivan 17, Brown 15, Cook 13)
Bristol Flyers 65 (16,36,45) (McLaughlin-Williams 12, Bland 11, Perine 11)
Andrew Sullivan

London Lions beat Bristol Flyers for the third time at the Copper Box this season, 78-65 on this occasion as they made it back-to-back wins and their first home win in the BBL Championship for two months.

Lions were led by Drew Sullivan’s 17 points and 7 rebounds, with Makal Stibbins posting a big double-double of 13 points and 12 rebounds.

And Lions were in control for much of this game after Stibbins, Rod Brown and Sullivan scored in quick succession to make the score 18-11 early on. Three-point shooting kept the Flyers in touch, and Doug McLaughlin-Williams opened the second stanza with his second of the game to keep the Flyers in touch at 23-19.

But Brown inspired the decisive run in response as he scored six points in a 10-1 surge, giving the hosts a double-digit lead at 33-20 that was rarely threatened. They held that through to the half at 46-36, Brown shooting 100% for his 10 points and Lions punishing Bristol with 14 points from the 10 turnovers they forced.

And that defence came to the fore in the third quarter, as they restricted Flyers to just nine points. McLaughlin-Williams hit another trey, but it was their only score for five minutes as Lions took control at 56-43 on Brown’s triple. The hosts then scored the last six points of the third quarter, four for Sullivan, and their lead peaked at 70-47 on a Stibbins score midway through the fourth.

Bristol did threaten again, getting the margin down to single figures after a 15-1 run was capped by triples from Tamas Okros and Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye, but they had far too far to come back with under two minutes to play.


Eagles run up a massive score

BBL Championship
Esh Group Eagles Newcastle 123 (29,64,93) (Jones 27, Defoe 19, Martin 18)
Plymouth University Raiders 101 (33,54,72) (Clarke 24, Hampton 21, Benson 20)
Eagles 2014-15 - 8

Esh Group Eagles Newcastle posted the highest points tally in the BBL Championship so far this season in beating Plymouth University Raiders 123-101. It was also the highest overall score of the season so far, with the combined total of 224 being 22 more than any other game so far. It’s the fifth time that the Eagles have been through the century, and they are the league’s highest scorers with a per game average ten points higher than any other side.

And the tone was set early on, although not in Newcastle’s favour. After eight early lead changes, Raiders finished the first quarter with the last ten points, Pierre Hampton hitting six of those, to lead 29-33.

But Raiders have only won three times in Newcastle since 2004, and the league-leading Eagles were immediately on the front foot in the second stanza. Big man Darius Defoe scored six in a 10-3 start that put the hosts back in the ascendancy at 39-36, and there was much more to come when Charles Smith’s three-pointer sparked a 13-0 surge that made the score 64-50, as Raiders didn’t register for three minutes.

Plymouth did get back to within single-figures in the third quarter, on Wilcher’s triple, but it wouldn’t last long as Eagles finished the period with a 15-3 run with Scott Martin scoring nine points, and the game was settled at 93-72 heading into the fourth quarter.

Eagles went through the century on Charles Smith’s three-pointer with 7.38 to play, and six of their players ended up scoring in double-figures led by Andre Jones’s 27, on a night when they shot 61% from the field and 46% from beyond the arc.


Wolves get out of jail…Just!

BBL Championship
Worcester Wolves 71 (16,36,57) (Owumi 20, Holmes 19, Thurman 13)
Surrey United 70 (24,36,58) (Downing 18, Dusha 12, Coleman 12)
Paul JAMES 2014 - 1

Worcester Wolves were pushed all the way by bottom-placed Surrey United live on BBL TV on Friday night, eventually prevailing 71-70 for their seventh straight league win and tenth win in their eleven home games this season.

United are bottom of the BBL form table, but came into this game with two wins in their previous three games in all competitions. And that showed from the early stages as they scored seven in a row, four for Anthony Downing, and then took a commanding lead at 16-24 as Korry Callum ended the first quarter with consecutive three-pointers.

But Wolves got over the shock and started the second with a 13-2 push to take the lead back, Alex Owumi hitting consecutive triples of his own in the middle of that run, and Jamal Williams adding five points.

The Wolves turned to their defence, and restricted their visitors to just seven points in nine minutes, in what looked like it might be a decisive spell. But then United defied the odds and came back to tie the game as Callum hit a three-pointer just before the half, to level at 36.

And they carried that momentum into the second half as United scored nine in a row for 42-47 with new signing Dominique Coleman scoring seven. Chavis Holmes helped the Wolves come back to tie at 50, scoring five in a row, but Surrey still held a narrow edge at 57-58 heading into the decisive quarter on Erick Forson’s buzzer-beater.

But Worcester dug deep, needing to win to maintain pace with Esh Group Eagles Newcastle at the summit of the table, and started the fourth period 7-1 with Disraeli Lufadeju scoring four. United got back to within one, but Owumi’s triple made it 67-63 and the game looked won at 71-67 with 30 seconds to play.

But Paul Guede missed two free-throws and then fouled Downing, who converted his ‘and-one’ play to get back to within one point at 71-70. United forced Owumi into a turnover and had a shot to win the game, but Elvisi Dusha missed on the buzzer.

Wolves were led by Owumi’s 20 points and seven assists, including 4/6 from long range.


Riders dump reigning Champions out of BBL Trophy

BBL Trophy, Quarter Final
Leicester Riders 80 (25,51,66) (Hassan 21, Watson 16, Bernardini 12)
Worcester Wolves 71 (21,36,50) (Owumi 19, Guede 15, Williams 11)

Worcester Wolves’ defence of the BBL Trophy is over after they were beaten 80-71 by Leicester Riders in Saturday night’s quarter-final. The Trophy is the only BBL prize that the Riders have never won, but their eighth straight win in all competitions and their first over Worcester in more than a year, keeps them on course.

Rashad Hassan

Rashad Hassan

Rashad Hassan led the way for the Riders, for the fifth time since the turn of the year, with 21 points and seven rebounds, while Neil Watson contributed 16 points and another 10 assists.

Riders had to withstand a late surge from their visitors, but looked in control early in the game after Yorick Williams and Jamell Anderson hit consecutive three-pointers, before Watson added another for a 25-17 first quarter lead. And their advantage reached double-figures in the second stanza when a massive 17-4 surge, Hassan scoring six, put them 47-30 to the good.

The Wolves came out with guns blazing after the half time break, with an 8-2 run punctuated by back-to-back Alex Owumi triples cutting the deficit to 53-44. But Tyler Bernardini’s trey settled the Riders and their lead was soon back out to 66-50 on Hassan’s score at the end of the third quarter.

But Riders had to weather a late storm, as the Wolves desperately tried to retain their grip on the BBL Trophy. They scored the first 12 points of the fourth quarter, holding their hosts scoreless for four minutes, as Remi Dibo, Paul Guede and Owumi hit three-pointers to make the score 66-62.

Watson responded, and that sparked six unanswered points that saw the Riders reinstate their cushion and they didn’t allow the Wolves to get within one shot down the stretch, as Bernardini and Watson held their nerve at the free-throw line.


King lights up the Phoenix again

BBL Championship
Cheshire Phoenix 79 (14,33,54) (King 28, Salisbery 19, Aliu 9)
Bristol Flyers 68 (19,37,51) (McLaughlin-Williams 20, Perine 16, Bland 15)
Taylor King goes for 28 against the Flyers.

Taylor King goes for 28 against the Flyers.

Cheshire Phoenix overcame a slow start to register a 79-68 victory against the visiting Bristol Flyers at the Northgate Arena in the BBL Championship action on Sunday and returned to winning ways after having an 11-game winning streak snapped last weekend.

Another good shooting night for Doug McLaughlin-Williams.

Another good shooting night for Doug McLaughlin-Williams..

After a positive start, Flyers found themselves up 19-11 after a pair of free-throws by Bree Perine, with the end of the first quarter approaching.

However, Dustin Salisbery knocked down a triple just before the end of the period to slice the gap to five points.

Nevertheless, Flyers stayed ahead for most of the second quarter and carried over a 37-33 edge into the halftime interval, increasing the gap to 13 points in the third period after a 9-0 run to start the second half.

However, cheered on by the home crowd, Phoenix managed to turn the game upside down, going on a 16-4 run to jump ahead 54-51 heading into the final frame. With momentum on their side, Cheshire quickly increased the gap to double figures at 65-55 and never looked back, comfortably icing the game.

Taylor King put yet another impressive display with 28 points and 15 rebounds in his account, with Dustin Salisbery adding 19 points and 10 boards for Phoenix. For Flyers, Doug McLaughlin-Williams had a team-high 20 points, as Bree Perine chipped in with 16.

Good times at the Phoenix.

Good times at the Phoenix.


Rocks get the better of Giants…Eventually

BBL Championship
Glasgow Rocks 90 (19,42,65) (Achara 23, Ogedengbe 17, Middleton 13, Huffor 13)
Manchester Giants 85 (24,42,61) (Gill 24, Bankevics 25, Jones 15)
Head Coach of the Glasgow Rocks, Sterling Davis

Head Coach of the Glasgow Rocks, Sterling Davis

A strong second half performance saw Glasgow Rocks take a 90-85 home victory against Manchester Giants at the Emirates Arena, snatching an important win against their BBL Championship table neighbours.

The visitors enjoyed the better start of the two teams, building an early edge and finishing the opening period with a 24-19 lead. A strong start to the second quarter saw the gap grow to double figures as Giants went on a 10-2 run to go up 34-21.

However, Rocks replied with three three-pointers in a row and Omotayo Ogedengbe’s added a couple of dunks to round off the swift comeback, with the hosts making it all even at 38-38 after winning a 17-4 stretch.

Having erased a double-digit deficit in the first half, Rocks had shortly fallen behind once again (55-50), but then continued from where they had left off before the interval, taking a 65-61 lead heading into the final frame.

Rocks took full command of the game in the fourth quarter, as John Bunyan’s long-range triple increased the gap to 73-63, as the home side’s advantage grew to 14 points at the midway point of the period.

Giants did battle back and got as close as three points after a Stefan Gill’s four-point play with 45 seconds remaining, but Bunyan hit another clutch shot three-pointer and Danny Huffor sealed the win with a dunk.

Keiron Achara led Rocks with a team-high 23 points, 12 rebounds and six assists, as Omotayo Ogedengbe added 17 points and 8 boards in a winning effort. Meanwhile, Stefan Gill collected 24 points for Giants, as Ingus Bankevics and Callum Jones chipped in with 15 apiece.


Wildcats get past tenacious Surrey United

BBL Championship
Durham Wildcats 76 (22,41,60) (Madourie 24, Urli 13, Jones 11)
Surrey United 75 (16,41,60) (Coleman 30, Knutson 19, Visockis 8)
Durham Action - 2

Fran Urli’s game-winning buzzer-beater gave Durham Wildcats a 76-75 edge against Surrey United in a drama-filled game at the Newton Aycliffe Leisure Centre on Sunday evening, as the home side came out on top after a thrilling finish.

It did not take long for Wildcats to leave a mark on the game, as the hosts broke away to an 18-10 lead following a long-range triple by Ralph Bucci. Having finished the opening period with a 22-16 advantage, Durham maintained a slight edge for most of the first half, before United scraped away the gap to tie it at 41-all at the halftime interval.

The third quarter saw a see-saw battle commence, with neither side leading by more than two points, as the scoreboard rocked back and forth, before settling down at 60-60 heading into the final frame.

Wildcats looked to have broken the game wide open with a 10-0, as Fran Urli capped the stretch with a jumper to make it 74-65 with just less than four minutes remaining. However, United responded with 10 points in a row as well, nudging back in front by a single point with 48 seconds on the clock.

Despite working hard defensively to prevent Wildcats from scoring, United failed to clean up under the glass and retain possession. Fran Urli made full use of the extra opportunities, as he converted a game-winner with the sound of the buzzer.

Joel Madourie was Wildcats’ leading scorer with 24 points and eight rebounds, with Urli chipping in with 13 points off the bench. Dominique Coleman scored 30 points for Surrey, as Kramer Knutson added 19 points and 13 boards.


Eagles crush Sheffield Sharks…AGAIN!

BBL Championship
Sheffield Sharks 84 (21,38,64) (Tuck 19, Babalola 18, Lewis 15)
Esh Group Eagles Newcastle 97 (24,48,71) (Jones 30, Martin 19, Thomson 18)
Fab Flournoy still with only one defeat this season,  Library Photo by Dave Moore.

Fab Flournoy still with only two defeats this season, Library Photo by Dave Moore.

Top-of-the-table Esh Group Eagles Newcastle improved to a 19-2 record in the BBL Championship after notching up a 97-84 victory against Sheffield Sharks at the EIS Sheffield on Sunday afternoon.

The visitors from Newcastle got off to a decent start and led by as many as eight points in the first quarter at 19-11, with Andrew Thomson pacing Eagles on the offensive end with 11 points in the opening frame.

However, Sharks erased the gap to 24-21 by the end of the period and had even jumped in front 34-33 in the second quarter, but it did not take long for Eagles to regain the upper hand. A 15-2 run by the Newcastle side saw the guests go up 48-36 with a minute to go in the first half.

Leading 58-43 halfway through the third quarter, Eagles looked firmly in control of the game, but a 21-10 stretch brought Sharks right back into the game, as the hosts cut the deficit to 68-64 just before the end of the third period.

With six minutes remaining in the game, Sharks were down by only four points and very well still in the game at 76-72, but the duo of Andre Jones and Scott Martin found put together a 15-2 run for Eagles to guide the visitors to yet another win.

Jones led the winners with a game-high 30 points, eight rebounds and four assists, while Martin chipped in with a double-double of 19 points and 11 boards. Mike Tuck led Sharks in scoring with 19 points.


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