The league-leading Newcastle Eagles had their ten game winning run halted at the hands of their biggest rivals, the SAMG Verve Scottish Rocks, after a 92-73 defeat in the season's second 'Battle of the Border' at the Braehead Arena on Sunday. It was the third consecutive win for the Rocks, their seventh in eight games, and was the perfect preparation for the BBL Cup semi-final clash between the sides on Saturday 15th December. The win also saw the Rocks climb ahead of the Guildford Heat and Sheffield Sharks into fourth in the BBL Championship table.

Meanwhile, the Kularoos Plymouth Raiders kept up the pressure on the Eagles at the summit of the BBL Championship table with a comprehensive 71-57 defeat of the Sheffield Sharks on Saturday.

The Raiders, who were missing leading scorer Drew Lasker and relied on their defence - which is the sternest in the BBL - looked to Anthony Martin to ignite a decisive third quarter run of 14-4 that put the game beyond the Sharks, who consequentially slipped to sixth in the table.

The rest of this week's games took place at the other end of the table, with a host of the teams competing for the last few BBL Championship Playoff positions scrapping it out with one another.

The Wolves had the best of it as they rid themselves of two unwanted records with a 79-92 defeat of the Everton Tigers and a 95-72 win over the Birmingham Panthers. The former representing their first away win in the BBL Championship, and a win in the latter on Saturday night meaning that they recorded back-to-back BBL victories for the first time.

The BiG Storage Cheshire Jets snapped a three-game losing streak when they beat the Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders 80-93 on Saturday night, with the duo of Shawn Myers (25) and Jayson Obazuaye (21) doing most of the damage, enabling them to hold on to seventh place in the table. However, they couldn't follow that up as they fell to their fifth home defeat of the season in losing 69-82 to the PAWS London Capital, a win which put the London side level with them in the BBL Championship. Wes Miller and Tayo Ogedengbe held the Jets off in the fourth quarter as the Capital gained revenge for two previous defeats to TJ Walker's side.

The fourth East vs. West Midlands derby of the season went the same way as all of the others, with the Riders defeating the Birmingham Panthers by 79-85 after a Kyle Greathouse three-pointer in the fourth quarter proved to be decisive in their climb to ninth place in the table.

Saturday night also saw the opening game of the BBL Trophy as, in Group 2, the Capital overcame EBL Division 1 side Barkers (Tarring) Worthing Thunder by 82-95

NOW IT'S A THREE WAY TIE AT THE TOP

PO	TEAM	PL	WON	LOST	POINTS
1	NEWCASTLE EAGLES	10	9	1	18
2	PLYMOUTH RAIDERS	13	9	4	18
3	MILTON KEYNES LIONS	14	9	5	18

Kularoos Plymouth Raiders moved themselves into second place, and level on points with Newcastle Eagles at the top of the BBL Championship table after a convincing 71-57 victory over the Sheffield Sharks at the Plymouth Pavilions on Saturday evening. After a close opening quarter, the Raiders enjoyed a 9-2 tear in the second quarter to close out the first half at 34- 22.

A 14-4 burst to open the second half for the Raiders took the score out to 48-26, and the home side continued to press home their advantage as they restricted the Sharks to 16 points in the third period to lead 57-38 going into the final stanza. The Sharks attempted to claw their way back into the game, but they could not close the deficit sufficiently as the home side ran out eventual winners. Terrence Durham led the Raiders scoring with 17 points personal, but it was Justice Graham led all scorers with 18 points for the Sharks.

BiG Storage Cheshire Jets moved above Everton Tigers into seventh place in the BBL Championship table after a 93-80 victory over the Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders at the John Sanford Centre on Saturday evening.

The visitors made the stronger start, and bursts of 6-0 and 8-0 in the opening period gave them a 26-15 lead towards the end of the quarter, and held that lead at 28-20 at the end of the period. The game was broken open right at the start of the second quarter when the Jets exploded out of the blocks with a 15-2 run to take the score out to 43- 22.

The Jets maintained their lead at 51-30 going in at the half. The second half saw the Riders begin to claw their way back into the game, and a 7-0 run got them to within eleven points at 70-59 at the start of the final quarter. A further 9-0 burst got the Riders even closer at 84-75 with less than two minutes remaining, but the Jets held on for the all-important victory. Mindaugas Janiska led the Riders scoring with 19 points, but it was Shawn Myers led all scorers netting 25 points for the Jets.

Worcester Wolves picked up their third victory of the BBL Championship campaign thanks to a 95-72 win over Team Birmingham Panthers at the University of Worcester on Saturday evening. After a close opening period, which the Wolves edged 24-22, the second period saw the Wolves break the game open with a 13-0 tear to take the score out to 46-35 midway through the period. The home side increased their advantage over the Panthers to fifteen points at 56-41 going into the locker rooms at half time. The second half saw Worcester open with a 5-0 tear to lead 61- 41.

The Panthers valiantly fought to get themselves back in the game, but the Wolves closed out the third period with a 9-0 burst to lead 74-55 going into the final stanza. The fourth quarter saw the Wolves continue to increase their advantage over a tiring Panthers defence, and eventually ran out comfortable victors. Michael Gayle led all scorers with 21 points for the Wolves, while Lekan Popoola and Adam Williams combined to lead the Panthers scoring with 17.

PAWS London Capital got their 2007/8 BBL Trophy campaign off to a winning start thanks to a 95-82 victory over EBL side Barker (Tarrings) Worthing Thunder at the Worthing Leisure Centre on Saturday night. The visitors led from early on in the game, and led by six points at 50-56 at the half. The second half saw the Capital steadily increasing their advantage over their opponents, and ran out comfortable winners. Scott led the Thunder scoring with 24 points, while Sam Bradley led all scorers in the game, netting 26 points for the Capital.

WORCESTER WOLVES GET WIN

Worcester Wolves secured their first road win of the season on the final day of November with an excellent 79-92 win at seventh placed Everton Tigers.

The Tigers came into this one on the back of a massive victory against the MK Lions and Coach Mooney and his men must have thought this was going to be an easy 2 points. It wasn't to be. In actual fact, the Worcester Wolves handed them a whupping.

The Wolves remain bottom of the BBL, but after two wins in three matches they move level with Birmingham Panthers on points and are now just two- points away from a play-off berth.

Skouson Harker's men turned in a superb fourth quarter effort to pull away from the Tigers. After leading 22-23, 44-49 and 66-70 at the end of the first three quarters, the Wolves opened the final stanza with a 14-2 burst to go ahead 68-84.

From then on there was no way back for Everton even with a Delme Herriman four-point play late in the match. Worcester's James Life led all-scorers with 29, including going 6 for 12 from the three point line. He was well assisted by Anthony Paez who nailed 5 three pointers from 6 attempts in his 28 points.

They truly are a 1-2 knock-out punch!

Durrant had one of his best games with a double double of 18 points and 12 rebounds. The Wolves shot 47% from the field and 43% from the three point line.

The Tigers were led by Tony Robertson with 24 points followed by Chris Haslam with his own double double of 16 points and 12 rebounds.

WE'RE DELIGHTED TO BE IN THE SEMIS

The Marshall MK Lions progressed to the BBL Cup semi-finals after a 73-78 defeat of the PAWS London Capital last weekend, and Head Coach Vince Macaulay is relishing the opportunity to face the Guildford Heat in semi-final action on Saturday 15th December.

Once the draw was made on Monday, Macaulay had the following to say, "It's very exciting. We're delighted to be in a semi-final, and the BBL Cup has always been something we saw as an achievable goal. We're pleased to be playing the defending champions, if you're going to win something it's good to face the champions on the way."

The Lions have lost twice already to the Heat this season, but with Brian Dux still in intensive care and Carlton Aaron having parted company with the club, Macaulay knows that they will face a different proposition,

"I think they'll have two new players by the time we face them. We've had two close games against them, and I don't see this as being any different. They will have learnt something from their games in Europe."

The Lions currently sit second in the BBL Championship table, two places ahead of the Heat, but Coach Macaulay is concerned about their recent form after a six-game winning streak was halted by the Everton Tigers on Friday,

"We haven't played well for three of four games now. For some reason we've taken our foot off the pedal, but the good thing was the character we showed [against Everton]. It was a tough, physical game."

The BBL Cup semi-finals represent one of the biggest days in the BBL calendar as they are both contested at the K2 Arena in Crawley on Saturday 15th December. Tickets for the event are already available, priced at £12 for adults and £8 for children, and this allows entry to both of the games. Seating at this event is unreserved.

BBL CUP - IT'S A NORTH V SOUTH FINAL

After a scintillating weekend of BBL Cup action, the final four teams have been paired off for the semi-final stages. The draw was made at 10.00am this morning and is as follows:

SAMG Verve Scottish Rocks vs. Newcastle Eagles

Marshall MK Lions vs. Poujoulat Heat Guildford

The semi-final matches take place on one huge day - Saturday 15th December - at the K2 Arena in Crawley. As the first teams out of the draw, the Rocks will face the Eagles in the first of the day's games as 3.30pm, with the Lions and Heat squaring off at 6.00pm.

It is the first time that a BBL event has been held at the impressive K2 facility, although the venue has a successful track record with basketball having played host to two matches between Great Britain and Ireland over the Summer.

One of the foremost rivalries in the BBL is renewed in yet another huge game when the Rocks and Eagles meet. The two clubs clashed at this stage of the BBL Cup last season, with the Rocks prevailing 94-69 to reach their third BBL Cup Final in four years. The teams have also met in each of the last two BBL Championship Playoff finals, with the Eagles winning both of those games. There has been one fiery league encounter already this season, with the Eagles taking a 110-117 double-overtime win north of the border.

The Eagles are former BBL Cup winners from 2005/06, when they beat the London Towers at the NIA. The Rocks meanwhile have featured in three of the last four finals, but are yet to win the competition.

For the Heat and the Lions, this will be the first time that they have met outside of BBL Championship action. The Heat have had the better of the encounters thus far, having won eight of the ten games, including a pair of victories early in this season. Guildford won 100-106 at the start of October, and 95-79 later in the same month.

The Guildford Heat are defending BBL Cup champions, having beaten the Rocks 81-78 in last season's final at the NIA
.

STRONACH WINS LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Kularoos Plymouth Raiders Coach Gary Stronach was last night awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the BBC South West Sports Awards, held in Exeter. The award was presented to Gary by John Lilley, Head of the BBC in the South West as a commemoration of his work and devotion to the team and city since arriving in Plymouth in 1986.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

BBL CUP, EAGLES HEAT ROCKS LIONS IN SEMIS

Go There Eagles v Jets

Newcastle Eagles picked up the final BBL Cup semi- final berth thanks to a comfortable 96-79 victory over the BiG Storage Cheshire Jets at the Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle on Sunday.

Both sides traded baskets early on, but it was the home side that made the first move with an 8-0 tear to take the score out to 17-10. The Eagles never looked back from this point as they continued to extend their advantage throughout the rest of the first half to go in at the break 51-35 to the good.

Babalola led the Eagles scoring with 26 points, but it was Shawn Myers who led all scorers with 27 for the Jets.

Poujoulat Heat Guildford secured their place in the semi-finals of the BBL Cup thanks to a comfortable 107-85 victory over the Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders at The Spectrum on Sunday.

The Heat started strongly, and a 14-0 tear in the opening period took the score out to 18-6 early on. The Heat continued in the same vein for the rest of the first half, and runs of 11-3 and 6-0 in the second quarter gave them a convincing 59-40 lead going in at the half.

The second half saw both sides trading baskets early on as the Riders tried valiantly to claw their way back into the game. An 8-2 Riders run to close out the third period trailing by thirteen points at 77-64. The Heat got themselves back in control of the game right at the start of the final stanza with an 8-0 tear to take the score out to 85-64. The Riders immediately responded with a 10-4 burst of their own to get the score back to 89-74 with 4:16 remaining, and despite a valiant effort, the Riders could get no closer as the Heat secured the semi-final berth with an 8-2 run to close out the game at 107-85.

Jon Nottley led all scorers in the game with an impressive 33-point haul for the Heat, while Terrence Woodyard led the Riders scoring with 27.

Marshall MK Lions had to come from behind on Sunday afternoon to secure their BBL Cup semi-final berth, and eventually ran out 78-73 victors over PAWS London Capital at the Capital City Academy.

It was the Lions who started the stronger, a 10-2 run in the opening period giving  them an early 10-16 lead. The home side fought back however, and a 9-0 start to the second quarter saw them take a 23-20, and they lead a four-point advantage over their visitors to lead 35-31 at the half.

The second half saw the Lions explode out of the blocks, and a 12-4 start to the third period saw them re-take the lead at 39-43. The Lions led for the majority of the quarter, but Capital's Harvey van Stein scored the final eight points of the quarter to give the home side a slender one-point advantage at 52-51 going into the final stanza. The game was broken open however by the Lions as they hit nine of the first eleven points of the final period to take the score out to 54-60. The Capital clawed their way back, and got to within four points at 68-72 with less than one minute remaining, but they could not close the deficit as the Lions ran out eventual winners. Van Stein led all scorers in the game with 26 points for the Capital, while Peter Heizer led the Lions scoring with 19.

RAIDERS AND HEAT WIN ON SATURDAY

Kularoos Plymouth Raiders kept the heat on the top two with a hard fought win at PAWS London Capital.

Raiders trailed early on thanks to a 10-2 run by Capital which handed them a 19-14 first quarter advantage. A further 6-3 run to begin the second helped the home team to an 8-point (38-30) half time lead. However, after the break it was a different story as a 15-2 burst by Raiders brought the visitors right back into the match. Heading into the final quarter they led 56-50.

Plymouth continued to play the better of the two sides and stretched out to 52-64 and 61-73 before London scored the final 10 points of the match. The comeback wasn't to be completed though as Raiders move within a win of top spot in the BBL.

Poujoulat Heat Guildford moved into fourth spot in the league table following a 67-94 blow out at Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders. The reigning champions showed their class during a rampant third quarter when they took a 34-42 half time lead out to 50-71 going into the final ten minutes.

Earlier a tight opening period had seen Leicester stay in touching distance at 20-24 down. They'd closed to 23-26 before Heat went out to 23-35 thanks to a run built on 7 Daniel Gilbert points.

Once Heat had blown the game open in the third the Riders never got back within striking distance as Heat cruised to the victory.

BBL CUP, EAGLES V JETS TOUGHEST ONE TO CALL

The Newcastle Eagles will host the Big Storage Cheshire Jets this afternoon, for the second time in four weeks as both sides try to secure a place in the BBL Cup semi-finals.

Eagles shaded a close game 81-78 that night despite a 24 point performance from Jets’ forward Shawn Myers.  It was an emotional night for Eagles legend TJ Walker who returned to his former club as Jets’ player-coach. Walker had his number five vest retired by the Eagles and received a standing ovation from the crowd.

Eagles guard Andrew Bridge believes that Walker’s former connections with the club will count for less this time, “It wasn’t that weird for us, but it was probably a lot harder for TJ,” he said.  “When I first went back to Sheffield after joining Eagles, it was always a big deal, but it won’t affect him as much this time.

“The scariest thing about Jets is that they’ve lost a few games recently that I thought they’d win. That’s what makes them dangerous this week. By accounts TJ was very upset this week, and I’ve heard that they may be having another player coming in.”

Having won their last nine BBL Championship games to go top of the table, Bridge is looking forward to playing in the competition they won in the 2005/6 season, “It gives us the chance to bring some focus to the season. The league is such a long process, and it’s come at the right time for us.

We know it’s a three game knockout tournament, you lose and you’re out. We lost in the semi-final by 25 points last season, and that’s not something you forget easily. It certainly hurt.”

After losing at home to the Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders on Sunday, Walker – MVP in the final when Eagles won the competition two years ago – had some strong words to say to his players, “It was a real eye-opener for me. We are just not consistently doing it at the defensive end of the court.

It will be a hard week in practice, because we have a tough game on Sunday and we can’t go out there with anything we’ve done over the last two weeks. Newcastle can put points on you from every position, and if we don’t show any defensive intensity it will be over pretty quickly.

“I’ve been here long enough to know how important the BBL Cup is. It’s the first trophy of the season, and almost any team can win it. We are unlucky to get Newcastle in the second round, as they’re one of the two teams who have gelled early in the season.

“It’s a competition we can win, because teams’ records go out of the window in it. But we need to be ready for the game. We have to match their intensity defensively, but we also need to play team basketball at the offensive end.”

These two teams have history in this competition as this will be the fourth time in five seasons that they have clashed in the BBL Cup. In 2003/04, the Eagles dumped the Jets out in the first round 79-95; in 2004/05 Cheshire gained revenge with an 85-79 quarter-final victory; then in 2005/06 the Eagles won 82-63 at the MetroRadio Arena on their way to lifting the trophy.

Those are not the only interesting statistics associated with this fixture: dating back to the BBL's inaugural season in 1987/88, these franchises have met on 74 occasions and cannot be separated as Newcastle's 81-78 victory earlier this season tied the all-time series at 37 wins each, with the Eagles having won the last six games.

ROCKS DUMP SHARKS TO ADVANCE TO SEMIS

The SAMG Verve Scottish Rocks became the first team to progress through to the semi-finals of the BBL Cup thanks to a comfortable 73-59 victory over the Sheffield Sharks at the EIS, Sheffield on Friday night.

It was the Sharks who started the stronger, and bursts of 6-0 and 7-0 in the opening period helped them to a 22-10 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Rocks fought their way back into the game in the second period, and a 15-2 burst towards the end of the quarter bought the score back to 35-30.

The Sharks held a slender two-point advantage at 39-37 at the half. The second half saw the Rocks break the game open with a 10-0 start to the third period to take the score out to 39-47.

The Rocks continued to extend their lead as the second half continued, and enjoyed their biggest lead at the end of the game with the score at 73-59.

Sterling Davis led all scorers in the game with 26 points for the Rocks against his former club, (a total of 51 over two back-to-back games) while the Sharks' scoring was led by Justice Graham with 14

LIONS STOPPED IN THEIR TRACKS

Everton Tigers defeated Marshall MK Lions 67-64 in a hard-fought encounter at the Greenbank Academy on Friday night, to move above Birmingham Panthers into tenth position in the BBL Championship table.

In a close game throughout, the Tigers held the advantage for the majority of the contest, but they could not shake off a resilent Lions team. In the closing stages, Tony Windless bought the Lions back into the game with a three-pointer to tie the scores at 61-61.

Tony Robertson then bagged a lay-up for the Tigers, but Yorick Williams netted another three- pointer for the Lions to give them a 63-64 lead with 2:20 remaining. The Tigers continued the pressure on the Lions, and two baskets from Tony Miller gave them a 67-64 lead with 20 seconds remaining.

The Lions had the opportunity to force overtime, but Peter Heizer missed the three-point shot with 8 seconds remaining, and the home side held on for the victory. Robertson led all scorers in the game with 17 points for the Tigers, while Michael New led the Lions scoring with 13.

ATIBA LYONS BACK FOR THE SHARKS

Atiba Lyons, one of last season’s Fab Four, which narrowly missed out on the league title is set to rejoin Sheffield Sharks in time for tonight’s (Friday) BBL Cup quarter final against Scottish Rocks.

Lyons, aged 25, left the club during the summer after one season in the city. He was a target for coach Peter Scantlebury during the summer but chose instead an offer from Israel.

However, after being traded once during the current campaign he was released by Ramat Gan and finds himself on a plane heading back to Sheffield to join up with his new team-mates.

Sharks general manager, John Timms, said Lyons will be a very important addition to Peter Scantlebury’s squad: “Atiba was one of the players we wanted to bring back from last season but he had an offer from elsewhere and chose that instead. He has agreed to come back to Sheffield and now we just have to tie up the paperwork.

“As well as being someone who is proven in the BBL, Atiba knows the offensive sets that Pete likes to run so will have no difficulty fitting into the team.”

Despite growing up in New York, the 6’6” Lyons is a British passport holder so fits nicely into the Sharks squad taking up the position vacated by Steve Parillon earlier this month.

Atiba will join up with his new Sharks squad on Friday and tickets for Atibas first game are available from 6.30pm at EISS on Match night.
 

DREW SPINKS CONFIDENT OF CUP SUCCESS

Dru Spinks is looking forward to his Marshall MK Lions attempting to continue their winning run when they visit PAWS London Capital in the BBL Cup quarter-finals on Sunday.

The Lions have won their last six games, which has propelled them up to joint top place in the BBL Championship table. Spinks is not a proponent of the old adage that form goes out of the window in these all-or-nothing BBL Cup fixtures as they look to emulate their feat of 2004/05 by reaching the semi-finals,

"We're looking forward to it, the momentum we have going is really positive, and we're looking to carry that into the cup game," said the Lions' captain.

"If we win two games we are in a cup final - you don't need any more incentive than that."

Prior to this sparkling run of form, the Lions had lost four of their previous five games, and Spinks had praise for his side's attitude in turning that around, "The team is playing with so much character, and we have a never-say-die attitude that simply wasn't there last season. We're not always playing well for the whole game, sometimes it's only for three or two and half periods, but we're still winning those games, and that can only be positive."

Lions' winning streak has been made more impressive by the fact that they haven't been able to field a full team yet this season due to injuries, but Spinks is excited by the prospect of them returning to full strength, "We're getting closer and closer to having a fully fit squad, and when we get there we need to use that as an advantage. Our inside presence is a real advantage, and when we have Robert Youngblood back, we'll have that extra big guy that most teams don't have."

Lions hammered Capital 115-94 on the opening weekend despite a 47 point debut haul from London guard Wes Miller, but Spinks doesn't believe that that result will have any bearing on Sunday's game, "They are a very different team to the one we played at the beginning of the season, we're aware of their perimeter threat, and although the guys are eager to progress we won't underestimate them. We need to execute our game-plan well and take care of the intangibles. If we do that we are in with a good shot of winning any game we play. We're under no illusions that it will be tough."

The draw for the BBL Cup semi-finals, which are being staged at the K2 Arena, Crawley, on Saturday 15th December, will be made on Monday and announced around midday.

CUP WINNERS FACE FORMER CLUB

It could be a season-defining weekend for the Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders as they face two games with the reigning league and Cup holders, the Guildford Heat, in two consecutive days.

On Sunday, they travel to The Spectrum looking to cause an upset by deposing the Heat from their BBL Cup throne. Last season the Heat won 81-78 at the National Indoor Arena against the SAMG Verve Scottish Rocks to lift the title.

Riders' captain Rod Wellington, who joined them in the Summer from Guildford, played a crucial role in that game. He scored 7 points, most of which came at a crucial moment in the second quarter. With the Heat trailing the Rocks by 31-23, he came off the bench to provide the spark with 6 points in a 15-0 surge that gave his team a lead that they wouldn't relinquish. Another former Heat player, and now Leicester's talisman, Chad McKnight, added 7 points in that run and had 20 points and 7 rebounds for the game.

Wellington is hoping for a return to the title game with his new side after their first-round win against their bitter Midlands rivals Birmingham set up this crunch tie with his former club,"The Riders organisation are trying to take on a new identity, so to with a cup would be a big boost," said the 6'5" forward. "It would be a massive achievement for a young and inexperienced team."Being picked for England and winning the league with Guildford were the biggest moments in my career, but winning the cup last season was a fantastic achievement too."

Riders and Heat also meet in the league at Leicester's John Sandford Centre the night before, and with Heat guard Brian Dux still in intensive care following a car accident on November 10, Wellington admits to going into the game with mixed emotions, "Ordinarily I would be really pumped going into the game, but it's going to be a sombre occasion. Me and Chad [McKnight] have been in constant contact with everyone at Heat, and it has definitely affected both of us over the last two weeks. I'm not sure what kind of game it will be. The three of us lived together for two years, and we're like brothers."

Riders come into the games having halted a four-game losing streak with a win in their last outing at the BiG Storage Cheshire Jets, and Wellington sees signs of improvement in the Leicester side, "We played well, but the main problem is that recently that we've been leading games but failing to close them out. We've made rookie mistakes, and teams have known that they have a chance to get back into games against us. The win on Sunday was much needed as it showed everyone that we can close out games, unfortunately we didn't do that on Saturday, but we're a young team and we're learning."

JULIUS JOSEPH EXCITED BY CUP ENCOUNTER

Julius Joseph of the SAMG Verve Scottish Rocks is hoping that his side's reputation and BBL Cup pedigree will help them into the BBL Cup semi-finals with a victory at Sheffield Sharks on Friday evening.

Amazingly the Rocks have featured in three of the last four BBL Cup finals, but are yet to win the competition. Last season they fell to an 82-79 defeat to the Guildford Heat, as Joseph had 9 points and 6 rebounds, at Birmingham's National Indoor Arena.

"We're definitely excited that it's a cup game," said Joseph. "We have a good reputation as a cup team, we've reached the semi-final every year since it started, and the final three times. We have the spirit and will to win it. The BBL Cup is the quickest way to win a trophy, and every game in it is really important."

Friday's game will also give Joseph's team the chance for quick-fire revenge against a Sharks' side who won 85-81 at the Braehead Arena in the league on Sunday.

Sheffield had led 55-36 at half-time, but Rocks recovered to lead 78-71 with three minutes remaining, only for Alto Virgil to inspire the Sharks to the win with five points in a 14-3 close to the game.

Joseph knows the improvement his side need to show if they are to win this week's tie, "This time we need to play at a high level of intensity for 40 minutes rather than 20. It's obvious to us why we lost on Sunday, we weren't sharp, ready and hungry. We have to be this week.

"We changed mentality at half time, and we knew what we had to do. I think it showed the calibre of our team that we could overturn a 20 point deficit and even take the lead for a short period. We were just a little too late with it, obviously we lead for a bit, but mentally you tend to think that it's job done when you've wiped out a big lead. Perhaps we took our foot off the pedal a little bit, but we won't make that mistake again."

The game at the English Institute of Sport tips-off at 7.30pm on Friday evening.

The draw for the BBL Cup semi-finals, which are being staged at the K2 Arena, Crawley, on Saturday 15th December, will be made on Monday and announced around midday.