In a busy night of action in the BBL Championship and BBL Cup the major winners were Sheffield Sharks.
The Sharks snatched a 92-93 win at Worthing Thunder in the first round of the cup to set up a second round tie against Everton Tigers in the Steel City and then they saw their nearest rivals in the league both lose to leave them clear at the top.
The previously unbeaten Newcastle Eagles went down 102-98 at Guildford Heat after overtime. Heat's Aaron Drakeford forced the extra period by sinking one of two free throws with five seconds left in regulation.
Drakeford was again the main man in overtime as his drive and bucket put his team ahead for good at 99-98 with, again, just five seconds remaining.
Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders were crushed 67-89 at home by Marshall MK Lions. Playing without the suspended Tack Minor the Riders were on the receiving end of a 13-31 first quarter from which they could not recover.
Cheshire Jets took advantage of the defeats for Riders and Eagles by winning the north-west derby 101-92 against Everton Tigers. The Jets used a big third quarter to take control of the match and move into second place in the BBL.
Joining Sheffield in the second round of the cup were Worcester Wolves and Airwaves Plymouth Raiders.
The Wolves will meet Leicester after winning 71-78 at Essex Pirates, while Raiders will host MK Lions after seeing off London Capital 85-80.
BBL Championship. Cheshire Jets 101-92 Everton Tigers
Cheshire Jets 101 (21,45,75) (Marks 24, O'Reilly 21, Peterson 18)
Everton Tigers 92 (25,54,71) (Babalola 21, Bell 18, Larkai/Gumbs 15)
Cheshire Jets won the battle of the north west against Everton Tigers and in the process moved into second place in the BBL after a 101-92 home win.
The first quarter saw the lead change hands six times before a 5-0 run by Tigers closed it 21-25 in the visitor's favour.
The Jets trailed by nine (45-54) at half time but produced an excellent third quarter effort to take a four point lead (75-71) into the final stanza. A 21-8 start to the third period did the damage for Cheshire.
However, Tigers produced a 12-2 beginning to the fourth quarter to re-take the lead at 77-83. Jets came flying back with a 13-4 burst of their own, which put them 90-87 on top for good.
Jets coach Paul Smith (pictured) was understandably delighted with the win: "It was a powerful performance by us and it is all the more pleasing that after losing every time to Everton last season we're able to get a victory on the board at the first time of asking."
BBL Championship. Guildford Heat 102 – 98 Newcastle Eagles
Guildford Heat 102 (23,43,68,83) (Drakeford 23, Martin 23, Joseph/McKnight 17)
Newcastle Eagles 98 (18,42,63,83) (Chapman 29, Jackson 22, Smith 19)
After overtime
Newcastle Eagles' unbeaten start to the season is over after they went down 102-98 at Guildford Heat after overtime.
Heat's Aaron Drakeford forced the extra period by sinking one of two free throws with five seconds left in regulation. Drakeford was the main man in overtime as his drive and bucket put his team ahead for good at 99-98 with, again, just five seconds remaining.
Earlier the Eagles had overcome deficits at the end of the first three quarters to take tie the match at 75-75 midway through the final stanza. Neither side could break free as the match was extended by five minutes.
In overtime the lead was exchanged several times until Drakeford, who led the Heat offence with 23 points, decided it.
Heat coach Chad McKnight (pictured) said: "It was a great game. Newcastle Eagles are always a tough team to play and it was a hard fought by both sides but we stuck it through to the end.
"We've let a couple of games slip recently in the fourth quarter so to grind it out and get the win is pleasing. It is the first time in four years that I have beaten Newcastle and to do it for the first time as a coach is particularly satisfying."
BBL Championship. Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders 67 – 89 Marshall MK Lions
Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders 67 (13,27,45) (Johnson 23, L Williams 12, A Williams 11)
Marshall MK Lions 89 (31,51,67) (Harrison 22, Holmes 18, Spinks 15)
Marshall MK Lions completed a double-winning weekend in style with a superb 67-89 road victory at Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders.
EJ Harrison's (pictured) 22 points paced the Lions offence as the visitors broke the match open early and went away from there.
Playing without the suspended Tack Minor the Riders led 3-2 before a 21-6 Lions run put them in charge. Closing the first quarter 13-31 up the Lions went in at half time 27-51 on top.
Lions maintained an advantage of between 19 and 25 points throughout the third quarter as they headed into the final stanza with an advantage of 45-67. A Harrison three made it a 30 point game (50-80) and it took a 9- 0 finish to the match by Riders to give the home side a crumb of comfort.
BBL Cup. Airwaves Plymouth Raiders 85 – 80 PAWS London Capital
Airwaves Plymouth Raiders 85 (20,36,66) (Valencia 22, Flato 20, Gall 17)
PAWS London Capital 80 (25,39,57) (Gariba 21, Ataha 19, Knysas 17)
Airwaves Plymouth Raiders booked their berth in the second round of the BBL Cup with a hard fought 85-80 win over PAWS London Capital at the Pavilions.
Capital had the better of the first quarter as they strung together a 9-1 burst to lead 20-25 after ten minutes. Much of Capital's best play came through Ibrahim Gariba, particularly in the second quarter when he notched eight points as London led 36-39 at half time.
The match turned in the third quarter as Raiders began to step up. After taking the lead at 53-52 on Terry Horton's two they quickly built up a double-digit lead (62-52). Capital fought back but Allister Gall's (pictured) three made it 66-57 with the fourth quarter to play.
Plymouth looked well in control for the majority of the final stanza but Tomas Janusauskas single-handedly brought Capital back into it scoring all the points in a 10-3 run which brought it back to 80-78 with 36 seconds left.
Eric Flaton kept his cool from the line though for Raiders to seal the win and ensure his team has a last eight tie at home to MK Lions.
BBL Cup. Worthing Thunder 92 – 93 Sheffield Sharks
Worthing Thunder 92 (26,40,66) (Bratton 28, Zafirov 18, Richard 14)
Sheffield Sharks 93 (29,52,66) (Cook 31, Patton 15, Toney 13)
BBL leaders Sheffield Sharks transferred their league form into the cup with a tight 92-93 win at Worthing Thunder.
The Sharks built up and then blew a 12 point half time lead as Worthing fought back to tie the match at 66-66 heading into the final period. Sheffield just edged the win though thanks in main to leading scorer Mike Cook.
Cook continued his impressive start to his Sharks career by hitting a game high 31 points. Current BBL scoring leader Reggie Bratton paced Thunder's offence with 28.
It is the Sharks sixth consecutive win in all competitions and their third double-winning weekend in a row as Atiba Lyons' (pictured) set up a home clash with Everton Tigers in the quarter finals.
BBL Cup. Essex Pirates 71 – 78 Worcester Wolves
Essex Pirates 71 (20,37,59)
Worcester Wolves 78 (22,41,55)
Worcester Wolves saw off the challenge of BBL new boys Essex Pirates to move into the last eight of the BBL Cup.
The Wolves, themselves relative newcomers to the league, trailed by four (59-55) at the end of the third quarter but had enough in reserve to book a tie against Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders in the next round.
Pirates continued to show improvement as they look to find their feet at the highest level but in the end it was Wolves who were able to get their first win of the season.
BBL Championship Table
P W L Pts
1 Sheffield Sharks 6 5 1 10
2 Newcastle Eagles 3 3 0 6
3 Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders 4 3 1 6
4 Cheshire Jets 5 3 2 6
5 Guildford Heat 3 2 1 4
6= Marshall MK Lions 4 2 2 4
6= Worthing Thunder 4 2 2 4
8 Glasgow Rocks 5 2 3 4
9 Everton Tigers 2 1 1 2
10 Essex Pirates 3 1 2 2
11 Airwaves Plymouth Raiders 2 0 2 0
12 PAWS London Capital 3 0 3 0
13 Worcester Wolves 4 0 4 0
Source: www.bbl.org.uk
