Newcastle Eagles enjoyed a double-winning weekend and they also snapped the BBL’s remaining undefeated record in the process as well.
EAGLES FLY TO TOP OF BBL SUMMIT
Newcastle Eagles won their opening game of the weekend 107-78 at home to Surrey United as Charles Smith scored 20 points to reach 6,000 career BBL points in that win.
Darius Defoe led the Eagles though with 21 points, while Kramer Knutson’s 24 points and 18 rebounds for Surrey went without reward.
Eagles followed this up by ending the unbeaten start of the London Lions as they beat them 69-56 in the capital to give coach Fabulous Flournoy his 150th away win as a head coach in the BBL.
The visitors led from start to finish, leading 20-5 after the first quarter and from there, Newcastle never looked back. Defoe again led the winners with a double-double of 19 points and 12 rebounds.
JOY FOR THE LIONS TO START WHILE RAIDERS WERE MIXED
London’s weekend had begun in perfect fashion as they comfortably disposed of the Plymouth Raiders 91-63. Veteran Rod Brown topped the scorers with 18 points.
Raiders though bounced back from their defeat in London to record a 73-69 victory over Leeds Force. The Raiders nearly blew a 28-point lead but were able to seal the win with a pair of Brent Benson free-throws at the end of the game.
David Evans led the Raiders with 17 points.
ELSEWHERE…
Worcester Wolves got a big performance from Alex Owumi as they enjoyed a 98-69 win at Leeds Force. Owumi made all six of his three-point shots on his way to a 33-point haul and in the process took his total three-pointers for the Wolves to 169, a new club record.
Cheshire Phoenix enjoyed a good victory up at Glasgow Rocks, despite being short-benched. Demond Watt and Mike DiNunno led the way with 26 points each for the Phoenix who held off the Rocks, 89-86.
Manchester Giants moved up to fourth in the table after their 92-84 defeat of Durham Wildcats. Darren Best led the way with 22 points in 21 minutes as the Giants picked up their first road win this season.
Finally, Leicester Riders got back to winning ways with a comfortable 83-54 win over Bristol Flyers as Riders’ coach Rob Paternostro recorded his 100th BBL coaching victory. Pavol Losonsky led the Riders with 19 points while Doug Herring had a game-high 21 points for the Flyers.
