Newcastle Eagles have won the 2012 BBL Trophy by beating Plymouth Raiders 96-80 in the 2nd leg in the north-east and 184-177 on aggregate.

Paul Gause led Newcastle with 19 points and he also dished out seven assists. Manchester product Andrew Thomson bagged 17 also for the Trophy winners.

Trailing 97-88 from the 1st leg, Eagles had to dig deep to claim their second domestic trophy of the season, both at the expense of the Devon outfit.

Raiders hit just three triples from 23 attempts and a missed lay-up from big man Paul Williams played a factor in Plymouth’s downfall having set the tone in the first quarter.

The game was tied at 18 after a scrappy first period, thanks to a pair of foul shots from Raiders’ Jeremy Bell, who finished with a game-high 29 points. Raiders went 30-25 ahead to begin second quarter proceedings due to five quick points from Jamal Williams.

Eagles though recovered and blitzed through the Raiders frontline, highlighted by an 11-0 run which gave Newcastle a 42-34 lead. Paul Williams ended the run for Plymouth but Charles Smith and Joe Chapman responded for the hosts with back-to-back threes to put Eagles up on aggregate. Chapman, a product of Marquette hit again from behind the arc to give his side a 55-41 advantage.

Plymouth though replied in kind in the third, racing to an 8-0 run to cut the gap to 63-61 on the night, but Raiders had the all-important seven point lead on aggregate.

Eagles wouldn’t be denied, as they hit back to end the third 71-63 ahead, but they were still one point behind on aggregate.

The nerves of both sets of supporters was clear to see, but it was the Eagles clan that celebrated, as they hit 12 of the first 16 points in the fnal period, and despite the best efforts of Bell, Plymouth lost control. James Jones fouled out and back-up point guard Anthony Martin picked up a technical to seal Pymouth’s fate in their second final of the season.

It started so well for Plymouth.

Before their encounter in Newcastle, Plymouth Raiders set the tone in the 1st leg with a 97-88 win at a packed Plymouth Pavilions.

Michael Ojo led Plymouth with 22 points as they came from behind to take pole position leading up to the 2nd leg.

Eagles had led 68-63 after three quarters, but in a high-scoring fourth period, Plymouth led for good at 83-81 and thanks to a three-pointer from Ojo, Raiders led 86-81 and saw the game out.

Charles Smith had 21 points for the visiting Eagles.