The BBL Cup is a straight knockout competition, it's all-or-bust in every round as the twelve BBL clubs strive towards this prestigious piece of silverware.

The top four teams from last season's BBL Championship - Newcastle Eagles, Guildford Heat, Plymouth Raiders and Milton Keynes Lions - receive a bye to the quarter-finals, leaving the remaining eight clubs to battle-out the first round.

The BBL Cup Final is one of the showpiece events of the season as the first piece of silverware of the campaign is contested at one of the premiere venues for indoor sports in the UK: the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham.

BiG Storage Cheshire Jets 88 (25,48,66) (Marks 20, Myers 18, Davis 13)
PAWS London Capital 73 (14,28,51) (Gariba 24, McCallums 22, Knight 16)

The BiG Storage Cheshire Jets will meet the Newcastle Eagles in the BBL Cup semi-finals after beating the PAWS London Capital 88-73 at the Northgate Arena.

The Jets were led once more by 20 points from Chez Marks, who was a BBL Cup runner-up in 2005/06 with the London Towers when, ironically, it was the Eagles that defeated them. Shawn Myers added 18 and Calvin Davis had 13. Ibrahim Gariba led all scorers with 24 for the Capital.

The Jets steadily outscored their visitors in the first quarter and opened up a double-figure lead at 25-14 that they would not relinquish. There was much of the same in the second and a 7-2 close saw the lead pushed out to twenty at 48-28.

Inspired by 19 points shared between Gariba and Marcus Knight, the Capital came back in the third and narrowed the gap to 57-45. However, a Chuck Evans triple on the buzzer halted the Londoners as the Jets were 66-51 to the good at the end of three.

Capital had runs of 11-6 and 8-4 to get within ten at 80-70 late in the game, but Chez Marks scored 8 of the last 10 points to see the Jets into the quarter-finals.

Head Coach Paul Smith said after the game, "A victory is a victory and that is the most important thing after a disappointing run. It may not have been pretty, but at least the Jets are in the next round."

Scottish Rocks 69 (23,33,48) (Shelton 18, Yanders 17, George 14)
Everton Tigers 88 (24,54,71) (Smith 28, Midgley 20, Gross 17)

The league-leading Everton Tigers brushed aside the Scottish Rocks by 69-88 to reach the BBL Cup quarter-finals and set up a clash against the reigning champions, the Marshall MK Lions. The Rocks had previously made three finals and two semi-finals in the last five years and this is their first exit in the first round for six years.

Everton were led by 28 points and 15 rebounds from Andre Smith, whilst Richard Midgley had 20 points and 9 boards. Blake Shelton scored 18 for the Rocks.

The game, which pitted two of this season's form sides against one another, started closely as there were seven lead changes in the first quarter. The Rocks led 14-7 early on after 5 points from Gareth Murray and 3 from Blake Shelton, before the Tigers went on an 8-1 run and tied the game at 15 on a Gross free-throw. The Tigers then scored 6 straight points, including 4 from Andre Smith, to help them to a 23-34 first quarter lead.

The visitors broke the game open in the second stanza as a 9-2 run, with 5 points for Smith and 4 for Marcus Bailey, gave them a 27-33 lead, before they went on to outscore the Rocks by 21-6 in the remainder of the period. Richard Midgley had 11 points in that spell, including two triples and a buzzer-beating score.

The home team's woes continued into the third period as the Tigers scored the first 6 points through Smith (4) and Gross. They continued to push the lead out, seeing it peak at 38-69 after a James Jones three-pointer. The Rocks closed the quarter with a 10-2 run, including 8 points for Randy George, to retain slim hopes of progression going into the fourth quarter at 48-71.

However, the Tigers didn't let the Rocks close in the fourth and, in fact, the closest that they could get was the final score at 69-88.

Worcester Wolves 80 (13,42,65) (Paez 21, Funn 18, Disy 17)
Sheffield Sharks 89 (27,46,66) (Sanders 23, Whyte 18, Rivers 17)

The Sheffield Sharks progressed to the quarter-finals of the BBL Cup, where they will face the Guildford Heat, after an 89-80 victory over the Worcester Wolves.

The Sharks, who have won the Cup on four occasions but not since 2004, were led by Chris Sanders's 23 points and 7 rebounds, whilst James Whyte had 18 and Sherman Rivers added 17 and 8 boards. Anthony Paez led the Wolves with 21, whilst Frenchman Harry Disy had 17 and 12 rebounds.

The Sharks had much the better of the first quarter and opened with a 12-2 run, including 5 points from James Whyte and 5 from Chris Sanders, to silence the home crowd. The Wolves found their feet as Harry Disy scored 5 consecutive points and returnee Anthony Paez, the BBL's leading scorer last season, made his first basket in his second stint with the club. However, the Sharks hit back with a further 10-2 burst, including 2 points and 2 assists from Whyte, and they went in 13-27 up after the first ten minutes.

The Wolves narrowed the gap in the second stanza as a three-pointer from Vidmantis Uzkuraitis capped an 8-0 run that made the score 25-33, before a further 6 unanswered points, including a dunk each for Paez and Disy, made it 37-42. Will Funn had 10 points in the quarter, which the Wolves won 29-19, including the last three before the teams went to the dressing rooms.

The game of runs continued in the third period as, firstly, the Sharks regained the ascendancy with a 13-4 run and a further 4 points for Sanders, for a 46-55 lead. The teams traded baskets until back-to-back three-pointers from Paez and a further one for Uzkuraitis made it a one-possession game at 62-64, before Brown scored the last three points of the period to narrow the gap to one at 65-66.

The Wolves took the lead as Uzkuraitis connected once more from downtown to open the fourth, but it didn't last long as the Sharks netted the next 14 points, sparked by a triple from Sherman Rivers and 6 points for Sanders, to make the score 68-80. The Wolves weren't done as Paez, Uzkuraitis, and Funn combined for a 9-2 burst to try and keep their Cup hopes alive, but Whyte held his nerve from the free-throw line in the late stages to see the game out for Sheffield.