SUNDAY 16 MARCH 2008
The Newcastle Eagles kept up their impressive run of form
in the BBL Championship after picking up two victories over
the past week. A 91-82 victory over the Sheffield Sharks in
front of Setanta Sports TV cameras on Wednesday evening was
followed up by a 83-97 defeat of the BiG Storage Cheshire
Jets at the Northgate Arena on Sunday night.
The chasing pack behind the Eagles is still being led by
the Kularoos Plymouth Raiders after their 85-66 victory over
the Everton Tigers on Saturday night, although the Guildford
Heat are still hot on their heels after a 90-76 defeat of
the PAWS London Capital at the Guildford Spectrum on Sunday
afternoon.
The race for the remaining play-off positions is hotting
up as the season heads into its closing stages as the Jets
and the Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders kept their hopes
alive with victories over Team Birmingham Panthers and the
Sharks respectively. The Jets beat the Panthers 79-117 at
the University of Wolverhampton, Walsall Campus on Saturday
evening, while the Riders defeated the Sharks 78-65 at the
John Sanford Centre on the same evening.
In other BBL Championship action, the SAMG Verve Scottish
Rocks picked up a comfortable 113-62 victory over the Panthers
at the Braehead Arena on Sunday.
All of the match reports from this week's games in the BBL
can be found on our website at http://www.bbl.org.uk/
BBL Championship
BiG Storage Cheshire Jets 83 (18,38,60) (Obazuaye 25, Moore
22, Hamilton 16)
Newcastle Eagles 97 (23,47,67) (Stewart 25, Levan 23, Hyatt
15)
Newcastle Eagles kept their impressive run in the BBL Championship
going thanks to an 83-97 victory over the BiG Storage Cheshire
Jets at the Northgate Arena on Sunday evening. In a close
game through the first three quarters, it was the Eagles who
held a slender lead at 60-67 going into the final stanza.
In the final period, the Jets opened the scoring to get to
within five points at 62-67, but that was as close as they
got, as the Eagles rattled off the next seventeen points in
a two and a half minute spell to take the score out to 62-84.
The Jets tried in vain to get themselves back into the contest
as their visitors held on for the victory, and as a result,
increase their lead at the top of the Championship table to
six points. Lynard Stewart led the Eagles scoring with 25
points, while the Jets scoring was led by Jason Obazuaye who
also netted 25 points for the home side.
BBL Championship
Guildford Heat 90 (17,36,66) (Dorsey 25, Harrison 23, Martin
15)
PAWS London Capital 76 (12,30,52) (Gariba 18, Bradley 13,
Henry-Fontaine/Mbeye 12)
Guildford Heat got back to winning ways on Sunday afternoon
thanks to a 90-76 victory over the PAWS London Capital at
the Guildford Spectrum. Early 8-3 and 7-3 bursts from the
Heat in the opening quarter gave them a 17-10 lead, but the
visitors responded with 8-2 and 6-2 tears of their own in
the second quarter to lead 25-26. The home side closed out
the first half with an 11-4 run to lead 36-30 going into the
locker rooms. The second half saw both sides trading baskets
early on before the Heat broke the game open with a 24-8 burst,
including eight points from Tony Dorsey, to take the score
out to 65-43. A 9- 1 response from the Capital trimmed the
deficit to fourteen points at 66-52 going into the final stanza.
The final quarter saw the Heat continue to keep their visitors
at bay, and despite a valiant attempt to get themselves back
in the game, the Heat held onto secure the all-important victory.
Dorsey led all scorers with 25 points for the Heat, while
Ibrahim Gariba led the Capital scoring with 18.
BBL Championship
SAMG Verve Scottish Rocks 113 (32,54,85) (Davis 18, Murray
17, Yanders 16)
Team Birmingham Panthers 62 (11,29,38) (A Williams 26, Popoola
13, Jules 8)
SAMG Verve Scottish Rocks moved level on points with the
Marshall MK Lions in the race for fourth place in the BBL
Championship thanks to a convincing 113- 62 victory over Team
Birmingham Panthers at the Braehead Arena on Sunday evening.
The Rocks opened with the first sixteen points of the game
in the opening quarter, and it was four minutes before the
Panthers got on the scoresheet with six points of their own.
The home side continued to dominate their opponents and took
a 54-29 lead in at the half. The second half saw the Rocks
pick up where they left off thanks to a 17-4 opening to the
third period to take the score out to 71-33. The home side
enjoyed their biggest lead of the game at 97-40 midway through
the final quarter, and despite an brief run for the Panthers
in the closing stages, the Rocks held on for the comfortable
victory. Sterling Davis led the scoring for the Rocks with
18 points, but the Rocks had eight players in double-figures
during the game. Adam Williams led all scorers in the contest
with 26 for the Panthers.
BBL CHAMPIONSHIP TABLE
No Team P W L Pts
1 Newcastle Eagles 26 23 3 46
2 Kularoos Plymouth Raiders 27 20 7 40
3 Poujoulat Heat Guildford 24 17 7 34
4 Marshall MK Lions 25 16 9 32
5 SAMG Verve Scottish Rocks 27 16 11 32
6 Everton Tigers 24 12 12 24
7 Worcester Wolves 27 12 15 24
8 Sheffield Sharks 25 11 14 22
9 BiG Storage Cheshire Jets 25 8 17 16
10Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders 28 8 20 16
11PAWS London Capital 26 7 19 14
12Team Birmingham Panthers 26 5 21 10
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