DATELINE SUNDAY 21st OCTOBER 2007

Newcastle Eagles have finished the weekend at the top of the table thanks to victories over the Everton Tigers (104-79) at the Metro Radio Arena on Tuesday evening and a 72-61 victory over the Sheffield Sharks at the EIS, Sheffield on Friday evening.

Poujoulat Heat Guildford bounced back from a shock 91-80 defeat to Everton Tigers on Friday night to pick up a comfortable 95-79 victory over the Marshall MK Lions at the Guildford Spectrum on Sunday afternoon. Michael Martin led the Heat to victory with 24 points. The Heat moved level with the Sheffield Sharks in second place in the table.

BiG Storage Cheshire Jets leapt into fifth place in the table off the back of two victories over the weekend. An 85-82 victory over the Marshall MK Lions at the Bletchley Leisure Centre on Friday evening was followed up by a comfortable 89-67 victory over PAWS London Capital at the Northgate Arena on Sunday evening.

The SAMG Verve Scottish Rocks moved level with the Lions in seventh place after mixed fortunes this week. A 74-69 defeat at the hands of the Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders at the Braehead Arena on Wednesday evening was followed up by an 80-74 overtime victory over the Everton Tigers on Sunday evening.

The Worcester Wolves also had mixed fortunes, as a 92-85 victory over the Riders at Worcester University was followed by a 98-86 defeat at the hands of Team Birmingham Panthers at the University of Wolverhampton, Walsall Campus on Sunday afternoon.

The Kularoos Plymouth Raiders picked up a 79-62 victory over London at the Capital City Academy on Saturday evening.

WORCESTER WOLVES GET FIRST WIN

Worcester Wolves are off the mark for the season after a 92-85 home win against Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders.

Anthony Paez was the star of the show for Worcester sinking a game high 36-points to lead his team off the bottom of the BBL table.

Paez was hot from the start as he hit a three-point shot to open the scoring. Leads of 12-7 and 22-15 were consolidated to 32-24 by the end of the first quarter.

After a steady second period where the teams sparred for position it was Paez who was the standout player scoring 23-points in the half as Worcester went in at the interval 50-43 in front.

Riders rallied during the third quarter. A 12-0 burst saw them take the lead at 54-59 before Wolves hit back with a 9-0 tear of the own to finish the stanza 67-63 up.

In a tense final quarter both sides lost key players due to foul trouble and Leicester closed an 85-76 lead to 86-81 leaving the result in doubt. However, Chuck Evans kept his nerve from the charity stripe to nail six free throws to take the Wolves to victory.

In Saturday's other BBL action, Kularoos Plymouth Raiders moved into a tie for third place after a hard-working victory at PAWS London Capital.

The Raiders eventually came through 62-79 but trailed at half time and needed a 16-2 run during the third quarter to break open the match in their favour. Plymouth began the match with a 16-4 burst but the hosts gradually chipped away at their lead to trail 16-22 at the end of the first quarter. London dominated the second period and a 9-5 run helped them claim the half time lead at 40-38.

Again the Raiders came out of the locker room the stronger. This time it was that 16-2 tear which took the score to 42-54 and an eventual 49-57 end of quarter score.

Further runs of 11-3 and 8-3 by Plymouth during the final stanza sealed the match. Andrew Lasker scored a game-high 27 for the Raiders.

EAGLES TOP BUT TIGERS MAKE THE NEWS

Looking at the scheduled games for Friday night in the BBL it would have been logical to think that the big news would be at the EIS Sheffield where the big 2 were going head to head, but that ended in a rather tame win for the Eagles which takes them to sole position at the top of the BBL.

This defeat leaves the Sharks with a record of 5 and 2.

Richard Midgley was influential once more with 25 points, including some decisive scores.  Player/coach Fab Flournoy had 15 points for the Eagles, whilst former Shark Lynard Stewart added 10.  Raymond McKeithan led Sheffield with 18.

The Tigers won the game on the back of 25 points from GB international centre Chris Haslam and led for much of the first half. They were 23-17 up at the end of the first ten minutes and maintained that at 45-38 by the half.

The Heat struck back in the third quarter with important scores from Mike Martin, who picked up a knock, and edged in front as James Jones hit a tre that put them up 64-65 at the end of the third.

Robertson added 20 points on the night, with former All-Star Calvin Davis making 17. Danny Gilbert (17) and Tony Dorsey (16) led the visitors.

In the other big news on Friday, Cheshire Jets overcame the Milton Keynes Lions by a scoreline of 82-85. BBL veteran James Hamilton led the scoring for the Jets with 22 points. This win moves the Jets up to 7th in the BBL League with a record of 3 and 4.

SHARKS & EAGLES READY TO GET IT ON

Two of the BBL’s in-form teams will clash at the English Institute of Sport Sheffield on Friday when joint BBL Championship leaders the Sheffield Sharks and Newcastle Eagles go head to head.

Sharks come into the game after fine wins against fellow contenders the Poujoulat Heat Guildford and Marshall MK Lions, and Coach Peter Scantlebury was delighted with the latter of those last week, “We had a couple of guys injured, and we got in foul trouble, so it was a great win against a deep and experienced team."

He continued, "Raymond McKeithan and Justice Graham largely led us to the win, and I was really pleased with their contributions.”

Sharks have two players doubtful for Friday’s clash with the Eagles, both of whom limped out of the win against Milton Keynes.

Says Scants, “Steve Parillon hurt his leg and didn’t play in the second half, while Locker Okorie injured his shoulder again. We’ll find out this week whether they will be fit for Friday. We just need to get this week out of the way, then we have a two week break to rest and recuperate.” 

Talking of the Eagles after a scouting trip at the weekend, Scantlebury noted,“They are another experienced and deep side who are playing well and winning games. It will be another tough test for our players. I saw them beat Leicester on Saturday, and they are well-balanced. Adding Richard Midgley at point guard has made a difference, but the thing about them is that you can’t look at just one guy as they have a very deep roster. They play some great defence, and we will need to stop their running game if we are going to win it.”

As his side round off a hectic schedule of games, Eagles coach Fabulous Flournoy is expecting a tough game in south Yorkshire, “Sheffield are playing really well, along with Guildford they are the most consistent side in the league,” he said.

“With the exception of when they came back from 17 down against Leicester to win, they have been in control of all of their games – even the one they lost against Capital. They have been there all of the game, and that’s a great testament to how Pete has them playing. He’s brought in a brand new team, and he has them implementing his system already. It’s tough to basically start from scratch, and get them to deliver so quickly. I think it will be a real test for us, especially as it will be our fifth game in ten days.”

EAGLES NOW JOINT TOP WITH SHARKS

The Newcastle Eagles took a share of top spot in the BBL Championship table, whilst leaving the Everton Tigers at the bottom of the pile. They comfortably beat their Merseyside rivals 104-79 at the MetroRadio Arena on Tuesday night.

The Eagles closed the fist stanza with the last 6 points to lead 26-10. In the second period the visiting Tigers had 6 consecutive points as the teams traded runs.

The hometown boys sealed the game in the third quarter as three consecutive three-pointers from Fab Flournoy, Jeremy Hyatt, and Charles Smith put the score beyond the Tigers at 79-50 with 3:00 to go in the period.

Newcastle cruised home in the fourth as Aaron Nielson came off the bench to hit 8 points. The Tigers were paced by 25 points from David Aliu and 23 from Tony Robertson.

EAGLES HOT ON THE HEELS OF THE SHARKS

The Newcastle Eagles capped off a perfect three victories from three games on the road over the past week in the BBL Championship with a 76-69 victory over the Kularoos Plymouth Raiders at the Plymouth Pavilions on Sunday evening.