The second weekend of the 2009/10 BBL Championship season got off to victories from the Newcastle Eagles, Glasgow Rocks and Sheffield Sharks on Friday evening.
Newcastle kept up their 100% start to the Championship season thanks to a hard-fought 112- 105 victory over the Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders at the Metro Radio Arena. A 15-2 burst, including 10 points from Tack Minor, from the Riders bought the visitors back into the game at 96-95, but 7 points from Charles Smith instigated a 12-2 run for the Eagles to take the score to 111-100 and the home side held on for the important victory.
The Glasgow Rocks endured a long trip down to Milton Keynes, but returned home with a 78-96 victory over the Marshall MK Lions at the Bletchley Leisure Centre on Friday night. The Lions led early on and took a 49-41 lead into the locker rooms at the half. The Rocks began to get themselves back into the game in the second half and were able to break the game open early in the final period with a 23-2 burst to take the score out to 65-88 and they held on for the comfortable victory.
Sheffield Sharks enjoyed their first victory of the season defeating the Worthing Thunder 84-78 at the EIS, Sheffield. The visitors led 46-49 early in the second half, but 6 points from Tafari Toney helped the Sharks into a 56-49 lead off the back of a 10-0 run. The Sharks maintained their lead throughout the remainder of the game, and despite Worthing getting back to within five points at 81-76, the Sharks held on for the victory.
Marshall MK Lions 78-96 Glasgow Rocks
Marshall MK Lions 78 (24,49,63) (Williams 17, Youngblood/Holmes 14)
Glasgow Rocks 96 (21,41,69) (Yanders 21, Parillon 19, Sapp 16)
Glasgow Rocks moved themselves up into joint third position in the BBL Championship table with a number of other clubs thanks to a 78-96 victory over the Marshall MK Lions at the Bletchley Leisure Centre on Friday evening. In a closely fought opening quarter, the Lions netted the opening four points of the game but the Rocks came back and lead 12-15 early on. Both teams traded baskets for the remainder of the quarter and it was the home side who lead 24-21 at the end of the first period. In the second quarter a succession of three three- pointers from Lions' Yorrick Williams helped the home side into a 49-41 lead at the half. In the second half, Williams netted the opening basket of the half before leaving the game with an ankle injury. The visitors got themselves back into the game following Williams' injury and eight points from Jessie Sapp helped the Rocks into a 63-65 lead going into the final stanza. In the final period the Rocks broke the game open with a 23- 2 tear to take the score out to 65-88 and the Rocks saw out the game for the comfortable victory. Williams top-scored for the Lions with 17 points, but it was Rob Yanders (pictured) who led all scorers in the game with 21 points for the Rocks.
Newcastle Eagles 112-105 Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders
Newcastle Eagles 112 (30,56,80) (Jackson 31, Smith/Stewart 23)
Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders 105 (24,50,71) (Minor 28, Wierzbicki 22, Johnson 18)
Newcastle Eagles maintained their 100% start to the 2009/10 BBL Championship season thanks to a hard-fought 112- 105 victory over the Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders at the Metro Radio Arena on Friday evening. Both sides started the game evenly matched and traded baskets throughout the early exchanges, but it was the home side who made the first break in the game as a Lynard Stewart basket instigated a 9-2 burst for the Eagles to take the score out to 26-16 with two minutes remaining in the quarter. The Riders kept themselves in touch with Jason Johnson bagging the final four points of the quarter to leave the visitors trailing 30-24 at the end of the opening period. In the second period the Eagles started strongly as Darius Defoe netted the opening four points of the quarter, but the Riders responded immediately with a 9-2 burst of their own to trim the deficit back to a single point at 36- 35. Both teams traded baskets for the remainder of the period and with the game tied at 50-50 with a minute remaining in the half, Andrew Bridge and Reggie Jackson hit a three-pointer each in the closing stages to send the Eagles into the locker rooms leading 56-50 at the half. In the second half both sides began in the same way as the first half by trading baskets in the early going before an 11-4 run for the Eagles took the score out to 80-66, but Leicester kept themselves in the game with a 5-0 run to close out the third period trailing by nine points at 80-71 going into the final stanza. In the final period the home side broke the game open as back-to-back three pointers from Charles Smith set the Eagles onto an 8-0 burst to open up the final quarter and take the score out to 88-71. The Eagles kept extended their lead throughout the period and lead by as many as fifteen points at 94-79 midway through. The Riders were not going to give in without a fight and Tack Minor bagged ten points in a 15-2 Riders tear to get themselves back to within a point at 96-95. A Jackson three-pointer immediately following that Riders burst put the Eagles back in control, and a further 12-2 run from the Eagles, including seven points from Charles Smith in the burst, took the score out to 111- 100 and ultimately give the home side the all-important victory. Jackson led all scorers in the game with 31 points for the Eagles, while Minor led the Riders scoring with 28 points personal.
Sheffield Sharks 84-78 Worthing Thunder
Sheffield Sharks 84 (19,46,65) (Cook 26, Toney 14, Patton 13)
Worthing Thunder 78 (28,45,60) (Bratton 30, Prezzie- Blue 14, Zafirov 13)
Sheffield Sharks moved themselves up into joint third position in the BBL Championship table thanks to an 84-78 victory over the Worthing Thunder at the EIS, Sheffield on Friday night. The visitors started the game the stronger and lead 8-17 early on in the contest. The visitors continued to lead throughout the remainder of the opening quarter and took a 19-28 lead into the second period, the home side opened the period with a 7-2 tear to trim the deficit back to four points at 26-30. Worthing increased the lead to 26-34, but a 12-2 run from the Sharks, which was finished off by a three-pointer from former Thunder player Ryan Patton on the buzzer, gave the Sharks a 46-45 lead going into the locker rooms at the half. In the second half, the visitors bagged the opening four points of the third period, but a 10-0 response from the home side, including six points from Tafari Toney, took the score out to 56-49. Both sides traded baskets for the remainder of the period, but it was the Sharks who held a 65-60 lead going into the final stanza. In the final period both sides traded baskets throughout much of the period, but a 7-0 burst from the visitors trimmed the deficit back to five points at 81-76, but the Sharks were able to hold on for the all-important victory. Mike Cook led the scoring for the home side with 26 points, but it was Reggie Bratton who led all scorers in the game with 30 points for the Thunder.
BBL Championship Table
P W L Pts
1 Newcastle Eagles 3 3 0 6
2 Guildford Heat 1 1 0 2
3= Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders 2 1 1 2
3= Worthing Thunder 2 1 1 2
3= Cheshire Jets 2 1 1 0
3= Glasgow Rocks 2 1 1 2
3= Sheffield Sharks 2 1 1 2
8 Marshall MK Lions 3 1 2 2
9= Everton Tigers 0 0 0 0
9= Essex Pirates 0 0 0 0
11=PAWS London Capital 1 0 1 0
11=Airwaves Plymouth Raiders 1 0 1 0
11=Worcester Wolves 1 0 1 0
Source: www.bbl.org.uk
