In a week highlighted by the BBL Cup, four of the BBL’s top five form teams were in action on Friday night, as the league’s longest winning streak came to an end. That happened in Worcester, as the second-placed Wolves condemned newly crowned BBL Cup champions Newcastle Eagles to a first defeat in 20, beating them 99-91 to close the gap on their title rivals.
The Wolves are the only team to have beaten Newcastle this season, with that run having extended all the way back to the opening night of the season when the teams last met. Crucially, the Wolves now have the head-to-head between the teams in the title race.
Elsewhere, Cheshire Phoenix extended their winning run into double-figures as an 82-95 win over Sheffield Sharks was only their second win in the Steel City in seven years. Phoenix are now up to third place in the championship table.
Brent Benson posted the highest individual points tally of the season so far with his 38 points leading Plymouth Raiders to an 80-93 win over Leeds Force. The Raiders are still in pursuit of a playoff spot, and this win saw them complete a 3-0 sweep of the Yorkshire side.
Saturday night saw movements at the top and bottom of the BBL Championship table as Leicester Riders and Surrey United recorded important wins.
Riders won 59-82 on their first visit to Bristol Flyers in the BBL, making it three wins in a row and inflicting Bristol’s heaviest home defeat of the season. The win meant the Riders moved back into third place in the table, having been displaced by Cheshire Phoenix on Friday night; while Bristol remain level with Durham Wildcats in a scrap for eighth, the final playoff spot.
And it was Wildcats who were the victims of United’s first win in six outings, as they won 80-78 courtesy of Kramer Knutson’s buzzer-beater at Surrey Sports Park. The game was tight throughout and looked destined for overtime, but Knutson’s double-double of 21 points and 11 rebounds proved to be the difference.
