Worcester Wolves consolidated top spot in the British Basketball League while Newcastle’s Fabulous Flournoy broke new records in week 20.
The Wolves secured two wins over the weekend as they turned on the style in the second half to demolish the Plymouth Raiders 93-63 in Devon.
Trailing 41-39 at half-time, Worcester held the Raiders to just 7 third quarter points as they ripped through Plymouth’s defensive line to lead 70-48 after three quarters. From there, the league leaders coasted to victory.
Will Creekmore led the winners with 18 points, while Matthew Pressey’s 13 the top mark for the hosts.
The Wolves then extended their winning run to ten games with a 105-94 road win over the Cheshire Phoenix less than 24 hours and over 290 miles on the road later.
Zaire Taylor led all scorers with 30 points as the visitors took control from the first quarter onwards and never looked back.
Newcastle’s Fabulous Flournoy equalled then broke the all-time appearance record as he played his 540th and 541st league game, breaking the achievement set by Peter Scantlebury.
The Eagles defended home court and stayed in the championship race by beating fellow contenders, the Sheffield Sharks 69-59, as the hosts raced to a 21-9 lead after the first period and coasted along from there.
Newcastle led by as many as 21 at one point before the Sharks hit back to make the scoreline a little more respectable. The Eagles then travelled up to Scotland to beat the Glasgow Rocks 74-66 in Flournoy’s record-breaking game.
The win was Eagles’ fifth as they remain unbeaten in 2014 and finish the weekend alone in second place.
Malik Cooke led the victors with 20 points, with Darius Defoe adding 18. Daniel Northern led the Rocks with 16 points.
It was a week to forget for the Birmingham Knights as not only do they remain winless in the league at 0-21, but also news surfaced last week that the club might fold due to poor finances.
They put up a fight though at home to the Cheshire Phoenix but ended up losing 96-87. Victor Moses led the Phoenix with a 32-point haul, cancelling out Brent Benson’s 31 points for the Knights.
Birmingham then travelled to Durham and were soundly beaten 103-70. Danny Huffor hit 21 points to lead the Wildcats to victory.
Manchester Giants caused an upset as the reigning BBL champions the Leicester Riders lose more ground at the top, losing 91-86.
Winning the BBL Cup as not had a great effect on Leicester as they have now lost their fourth match in five attempts.
David Aliu led the Giants with 28 points with veteran Yorick Williams turning back the clock to add 20 for the winners.
The other game in the league saw London Lions comfortably dispatch of Surrey United 96-66 at Surrey Sports Park.
Four Lions players reached double figures in scoring with Rod Brown scoring 22 points to lead the side from the capital.
