Sheffield Sharks’ Steve Dagostino hit 35 points in last year’s BBL Cup final, when they beat Mersey Tigers.
Newcastle Eagles’ Charles Smith broke that record with 4.19 left of the third, on his way to the MVP award, scoring 39 points overall with 31 of those coming in the first half, where he played all 20 minutes.
It was a masterclass that Plymouth Raiders could not stop, no matter who they put on him, as Newcastle cruised to a record-setting 115-92 victory. The highest score by a single team in a BBL Cup final game.
“The rim seemed like an ocean, everything was dropping for me,” Smith said afterwards. “As a team though, we played great defence, we wanted to crowd their big men and we did that. We, as a team pride ourselves on our defence.”
“Charles was out of his world, but he’s been doing this for many years,” Eagles’ coach Fabulous Flournoy said. “Every shot was the right shot and he lifted the team from the start,”
While Plymouth battled to narrow the lead, highlighted by a Jeremy Bell-led 12-2 run with 3.57 in the second quarter remaining to cut the deficit to 49-40. The south-west side were always second best as the Eagles soared to their second BBL Cup victory and 14th BBL trophy overall.
Newcastle were by far the more controlled side throughout. Plymouth started nervous, they rushed their possessions and failed to defend Smith on the perimeter, as Eagles led 35-20 after the first ten minutes, that score line set the tone for what was an anticipated final.
Smith was supported by Paul Gause, who, in his first BBL final, hit 24 points. Andrew Bridge hit 16.
Plymouth were led by Lehmon Colbert’s 25 points, Jeremy Bell hit 23.
Flournoy added: “Delighted with this win, and very happy that we found our feet so quickly, especially Charles Smith, who was out of this world. His shooting was great and it lifted our whole team.”
For Plymouth, despite winning the BBL Trophy against Newcastle in the Eagles’ own backyard in 2007, the National Indoor Arena has not been kind to them.
Raiders lost the BBL Cup final in 2009 when they were beaten 103-49 to the Everton Tigers, a margin of 54 points. The Devon side set a new low for points scored, and margin of defeat that day.
“I’m disappointed but at the end of the day we came up against a quality Newcastle side, we have to live with these types of experiences and move on,” Plymouth coach Gavin Love said.
“I feel really sorry for our fans, they have been fantastic and they have travelled all this way, I’m sorry we didn’t give them a worthy enough performance.”
Eagles led at half-time 63-46, and extended it to 85-65 with under four minutes of the third period to play. Andrew Bridge’s lay-up to bring the hundred up at 101-80 mid-way through the fourth, counted as a goaltend, despite Anthony Rowe’s best efforts to block it.
Notes: In the warm-up game, City of Sheffield Hatters beat Nottingham Wildcats 70-55 in a Women’s Division One clash. Stephanie Gandy led all scorers with 24 points for the Hatters.
In a battle between two Milton Keynes Lions’ players. Nathan Schall beat Ishmael Fontaine in the final to claim the 2012 Dunk Contest crown.
