Home Domestic Leagues British Basketball League round up (week 28)

British Basketball League round up (week 28)

Newcastle Eagles are two wins away from a fifth BBL title in seven years after an 82-78 win over the Sheffield Sharks at Sport Central.

The Eagles need two wins to capture the championship as they face the bottom two sides in the league in Birmingham Knights and Surrey United next weekend. The Eagles have also won nine games in a row and chalked up their 13th straight home victory.

Their latest success over Sheffield was a true test of their resilience. The Sharks, themselves in the top three, drew level at half-time at 41-41, but the Eagles maintained their lead in the second half. The visitors pulled it to 80-78 with 15 seconds left, but Malik Cooke sealed the game from the foul line.

Cooke and Darius Defoe both led the Eagles with 19 points. BJ Holmes led all scorers for Sheffield with 24.

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Worcester Wolves kept up their challenge with a pair of wins against the two teams aiming for the eighth and final playoff spot in the league. The Wolves defeated the Durham Wildcats 88-66 with Will Creekmore exploding for 36 points.

The Wolves then edged the Manchester Giants 94-86 on the road with Creekmore getting another big haul of 33 points but Worcester were made to fight hard for their win in the north-west with the Giants pulling it to a 1-point game on a few occasions.

Worcester got the job done in the end, but have conceded that the bottom two have to do him a massive favour next weekend.

Sheffield Sharks stayed in the hunt for the title although it is an outside chance as they ousted the league champion Leicester Riders 71-60 in Yorkshire.

BJ Holmes paced the Sharks with 19 points and the Riders saw their dreams of a title repeat end once and for all.

The Riders however did get one win on the board over the weekend, as they bested the Glasgow Rocks 87-79 at home. Anthony Downing with a game-high 23 points the difference between the two teams.

The Rocks bounced back from that narrow defeat as they saw-off Surrey United 91-76 with Daniel Northern leading the way for the Scots with 20 points.

The other games saw Cheshire Phoenix score two wins over the London Lions, home and away.

The Phoenix defeated the Lions at the Olympic Park 92-88 before beating them 48 hours later in the north-west 103-97.

And the Plymouth Raiders overcame a shaky first half to beat basement side Birmingham Knights 99-85 as they look to end their first season in Britain’s top flight without a win. The second team in two seasons to achieve that unfortunate feat.

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