SUNDAY 30 MARCH 2008
The Newcastle Eagles took a further step towards their second
BBL Championship title in three years after they came through
a physical battle with the Marshall MK Lions to win 82-68
on Friday night. Lynard Stewart had 18 points and 16 rebounds,
but it came at a cost as both Jeremy Hyatt and Andrew Bridge
left the game with injuries.
In midweek, the Lions had picked up a crucial 82-85 overtime
win over the SAMG Verve Scottish Rocks live on Setanta Sports
1. A crowd of 2,417 saw Yorick Williams score 24 points as
the Lions strengthened their position in fourth place in the
BBL Championship.
It was a bad week for the first-placed Rocks as their misery
was compounded when they were beaten 78-72 by the PAWS London
Capital on Sunday. Tayo Ogendengbe's 19 points helped to ensure
that the Londoners are mathematically still in the playoff
race.
Elsewhere, the Kularoos Plymouth Raiders maintained second
place after recording the most number of points they have
ever scored in a BBL game with a 90-122 win at the Birmingham
Panthers. Local talent Gavin Love had 34 points, including
nine three-pointers, and fellow Plymouth native Allister Gall
notched 18.
The Raiders won twice over the weekend as they had previously
beaten the BiG Storage Cheshire Jets 90-75 on Friday night.
Drew Lasker had 30 points as the Raiders reversed a halftime
deficit.
The Guildford Heat are still in third after leaving it late
to beat the BiG Storage Cheshire Jets 82-88 on Sunday. Danny
Gilbert had 19 points as the Heat kept their composure with
a last minute run to win the game and keep their title defence
alive.
In the scrap for the last few playoff spots, both the Sheffield
Sharks and Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders managed to record
back-to-back wins ahead of their meeting live on Setanta Sports
1 this coming Wednesday.
The Sharks hammered their positional rivals the Everton Tigers
by 104-81 after a tirade of three-pointers, including four
from Alto Virgil on his way to 24 points.
The Riders, meanwhile, beat their Midlands rivals the Worcester
Wolves for the first time this season. Carlos White notched
25 points as the Riders kept their cool from the free-throw
line down the stretch to beat the Wolves for the first time
this season.
BBL Championship
BiG Storage Cheshire Jets 82 (24,43,67) (Obazuaye 24, Moore
13, Pratt 13)
Guildford Heat 88 (27,44,64) (Gilbert 19, Martin 18, Harrison
13)
The Guildford Heat put a huge dent in the BiG Storage Cheshire
Jets' BBL Championship Playoff pursuit as they beat them 82-88
with a last-gasp run in Chester, their third league win over
the Jets this season.
Danny Gilbert scored 19 points for the Heat and was supported
by 18 from Mike Martin and 13 from backcourt partner EJ Harrison.
Jayson Obazuaye led all scorers with 24 for the hosts.
In what was a tight game throughout, the teams remained close
during the early stages as the Heat edged the first quarter
by 24-27, and the visitors retained a slender lead at 43-44
by the half.
The Jets had the better of the third quarter as the teams
played their way to a 59-59 tie before the home side finished
the stronger and led 67-64 going into the decisive stanza.
The lead didn't last for long as the Heat snatched it back
at 70-71 on an EJ Harrison score two minutes into the fourth
period. That sparked a 12-4 burst, during which time Trey
Moore fouled out for the Jets, that gave the Heat a 74-81
lead. However, the game remained close as Obazuaye hit a long
three-pointer and Alan Duppa added a basket to make the score
79-81 with 1:26 remaining.
From that point, the Heat posted the decisive run as scores
from Martin, Harrison, and Dean Williams contributed to a
7-0 tear to secure the win in the last minute.
PAWS London Capital 78 (23,33,62) (Ogedengbe 19,
Gariba 17, Henry-Fontaine 15)
SAMG Verve Scottish Rocks 72 (17,44,60) (Davis 21, Wohlers
11, Hampton 10)
The PAWS London Capital halted a three-game losing streak
as they beat the SAMG Verve Scottish Rocks 78-72; the win
also ensured that the Capital were not swept by the Rocks
across the season's three league games.
The Londoners were led by their local talent as Tayo Ogedengbe
had 19 points, with Ibrahim Gariba scoring 17, and Pierre
Henry-Fontaine adding 15. Player/coach Sterling Davis scored
21 points for the Rocks.
In a game in which the sides traded considerable runs, it
was the hosts that made the first move as 5 points from Gariba,
the 6'9" centre, contributed to a 15-2 run that gave
them an 18-10 led. They still led 23-17 at the end of the
first ten minutes.
The Rocks struck back in the second as Rob Yanders and Moritz
Wohlers each hit two three-pointers in a huge 25-4 push that
saw them in the ascendancy at 29-42.
After trailing by 33-44 at the half, the pendulum swung once
more as the Capital posted a 21-2 surge, including a further
6 points for Gariba, as they snatched the lead back at 54-48.
It was a one-possession game at 62-60 going into the decisive
stanza.
A triple from Bilal Clarance opened the fourth period and
put the Rocks back in front. However, four minutes in, the
home side went 7-2 to lead 71-67 and, after a basket from
Davis, they followed that with 7 straight points, including
five for Henry-Fontaine, as Yanders was called for a technical
foul and the Londoners saw the game out.
BBL CHAMPIONSHIP TABLE
No Team P W L Pts
1 Newcastle Eagles 29 25 4 50
2 Kularoos Plymouth Raiders 30 22 7 44
3 Guildford Heat 27 20 7 40
4 Marshall MK Lions 28 18 10 36
5 SAMG Verve Scottish Rocks 29 16 13 32
6 Everton Tigers 27 13 14 26
7 Sheffield Sharks 28 13 15 26
8 Worcester Wolves 28 12 16 24
9 BiG Storage Cheshire Jets 29 9 20 18
10Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders 29 9 20 18
11PAWS London Capital 29 8 21 16
12Team Birmingham Panthers 27 5 22 10
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