Newcastle Eagles continued their winning run with another double-winning weekend in the BBL Championship.
The Eagles used a 17-0 run in the third to overcome Bristol Flyers in an 81-62 victory before claiming a huge 81-88 road success against London Lions.
Deondre Parks netted 28 points in the win as Newcastle levelled the head-to-head series with the Lions and improved to 9-1.
“It was a big weekend for us,” declared Scott Martin. “We played two tough teams and it was a good test.
“We have to credit Bristol – they played well, came at us in the third but it speaks to our team that we were able to keep our concentration, fight back and go on a big run ourselves to get the win.
“London was a crucial game in terms of the Championship – you don’t want to fall 2-0 behind and lose the head-to-head so it was important to get the win.
“It’s tough to do on the road, especially somewhere like London so we were really excited to get the win and pleased with how well we executed.”
The Lions had gone into the contest on the back of an impressive road win themselves having taken down Leicester Riders in the BBL Cup.
Nigel Lloyd’s side secured a 67-76 victory to set up a Semi-Final showdown with the Eagles, while Glasgow Rocks will meet Surrey Scorchers in the other last four encounter.
The Rocks produced a crucial 12-0 run in the late stages to pull off a 57-69 Cup win away at Sheffield Sharks and followed up their success with an 82-77 league win over Worcester Wolves to take their record to 7-1.
Neil Watson top scored with 21 points as the Rocks extended their winning run in all competitions to eight games with momentum firmly with Sterling Davis’ men.
Meanwhile, Manchester Giants claimed their first win of the season after a combined 46 points from Jerelle Okoro and Sam Toluwase helped their side record a 91-79 triumph against Surrey Scorchers.
It was the second blow to the Scorchers’ weekend after suffering an 80-83 home defeat against Sheffield less than 24 hours earlier as new signing Rashawn Rembert netted 21 points for the winning visitors.
