Newcastle Eagles will have to wait at least one more day before claiming the Championship title after a great weekend of action in the BBL.
The injury-hit Eagles were almost upset by Leeds Force on Friday evening before escaping with a 98-91 overtime win at Sport Central.
Charles Smith came up big in the latter stages of the game, recording 29 points and 12 rebounds, and was supported by a double-double of 21 points and 11 rebounds from Scott Martin.
The Eagles can claim the title on Wednesday if they beat Manchester Giants, or if Leicester Riders lose at home to Worcester Wolves tomorrow evening.
The Riders did all they could at the weekend to keep the title race going, winning both of their games to take their current winning streak to seven.
Neil Watson had 23 points and 10 rebounds in a 104-87 victory at Manchester Giants on Friday, while it was Tyler Bernardini’s 23-point haul that led the way in an 80-72 comeback win at Sheffield Sharks on Sunday afternoon.
The defeat for Sheffield ended a winning streak that had reached eight games following their 73-71 win at London Lions on Friday, behind 16 points from John Barber.
The Lions had numerous chances to tie or go ahead in the final ninety seconds but came up short each time, meaning the Sharks now have the tie-breaker if the two team finish level on points.
It wasn’t long before the Lions got back to winning ways, recording an 89-83 victory at Surrey United on Saturday. But they had to hold on for the win after Surrey, behind 26 points from Dominique Coleman, came close to erasing a 30-point deficit.
In the race for the final Play-Off spot, Plymouth Raiders bowed out on Sunday following a dramatic 93-90 defeat to Manchester Giants.
The Giants looked home and dry after a 20-0 run gave them an 84-63 lead with under seven minutes remaining but the Raiders refused to lie down and only a missed three-pointer a few seconds from the end denied them an amazing comeback victory.
“It was a win and when you’re struggling like we’ve been struggling, we’ll take it,” said relieved Giants coach Jeff Jones.
“We struggle when there have been games that we feel we should win and we put way too much pressure on us, and that’s happened over the last five or six.”
The win took the Giants above Bristol Flyers by virtue of having fewer defeats and with three games remaining, the Giants’ destiny is in their own hands.
“We’re still alive, which will make it an interesting week, so we’ll see what happens.”
Bristol Flyers could have taken a big step towards bagging the last Play-Off spot for themselves but despite a strong performance against Glasgow Rocks, slipped to a 97-91 defeat in their penultimate game.
Tayo Ogedengbe led the Rocks with 23 points but it was late back-to-back three-pointers from Tommy Freeman that proved the killer blow.
The Rocks didn’t have the same joy the previous night as Chavis Holmes’ 22 points helped Worcester Wolves to a 92-80 win over the Scottish side.
Finally, Demond Watt led the way with 18 points as Cheshire Phoenix cruised to a 91-58 victory over Durham Wildcats.
BBL
