The Newcastle Eagles secured their BBL Cup Final berth thanks to a hard-fought 69-75 victory over the SAMG Verve Scottish Rocks at the K2 Arena in Crawley.
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The second half saw the Rocks again start strongly, and a 15-4 run took them into a three-point lead at 50-47 midway through the third period. The Eagles immediately responded netting twelve of the last sixteen points of the quarter to lead 56-59 going into the final stanza.
In the final quarter, the Eagles started with an 8-4 run to lead 60-67, but five points from Julius Joseph bought the Rocks back to within two points at 65-67. Both teams traded baskets throughout the closing stages, but it was the Eagles who remained strong, and sealed their place in the Final from the foul-line.
Charles Smith led all scorers in the game with 20 points for the Eagles, while Maurice Hampton led the Rocks scoring with 15.
Marshall MK Lions joined the Newcastle Eagles as the finalists in the BBL Cup after a 91-80 victory over the defending Cup holders, the Poujoulat Heat Guildford at the K2 Arena in Crawley on Saturday evening.
Both sides traded baskets throughout the opening quarter, but a 10-4 burst from the Lions gave them the early advantage at 15-8. The Heat steadily closed the gap, but still trailed by three points at 25-22 at the end of the first quarter. The second period saw the Heat tie the game at 38-38 midway through the period, but the Lions immediately responded with a 19-4 tear to take the score out to 57-42. An E.J. Harrison three-pointer on the half-time buzzer took the Heat into the locker rooms trailing by twelve points at 57-45.
The second half saw the Heat close the deficit to six points at 59-53 off the back of an 8-2 start to the third period, but a three-pointer from Tony Windless and two from Yorick Williams set the Lions off on a 13-4 tear to take the score out to 72-57. A 7-1 finish to the third period for the Heat trimmed the deficit back to nine points at 73-64 going into the final stanza. In the final quarter, the Heat opened with the first seven points to get back to within two points at 73-71.
The Lions responded with eight of the next ten points to take the score out to 81-73, before the Heat got back to within four at 81-77 with 3:08 remaining. The Lions broke the game open with an 8-0 to take the score out to 89-77 with 1:09 left in the game, and then held their nerve to secure the victory from the foul-line. Williams led the scoring in the game with 26 points for the Lions, while Tony Dorsey led the Heat scoring with 20.
Everton Tigers kept up their recent impressive form with a comfortable 93-77 win over BiG Storage Cheshire Jets in a sensational game at Fortress Greenbank on Friday night.
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Great Britain point-guard Richard Midgley made his debut for the Tigers after completing his move from Newcastle Eagles and showed his new team what he is capable of with a superb second half display on his way to 15-points.
But it was 'Mr Magic' Tony Robertson who led the scoring for Everton with 21 points including 3-threes as they overturned a 21-27 first quarter deficit to be level at half time 45-45. And with Chris Haslam (pictured left) and Calvin Davis taking control in the second half, a 70-61 third quarter lead was extended throughout a dominant final quarter.
Robertson would lead the Tigers scoring but he would get great support from the previously mentioned Midgley, plus 15 points each from the Tigers' big men Calvin Davis and Chris Haslam. David Aliu added 10.
The injury hit Jets, playing without player/coach TJ Walker and BBL veteran James Hamilton, battled hard and guard Jayson Obazuaye led all-scorers on the night with 29- points.
The win was Everton's third in December and moves them within two points of reigning league champions Poujoulat Heat Guildford in fourth place. The Tigers are now looking to not just make the play-offs but also to gain home court advantage.
Well lastnight's victory by the Everton Tigers might have been the big news on any other night in the BBL, but the Sheffield Arena was resounding to the news/rumour that Richard Midgley had departed the Newcastle Eagles and signed for the Tigers.
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The big questions were simple, had he really left the Eagles, had he really signed for the Tigers and was he going to play against the Sharks in this big BBL encounter?
All questions were answered when the Tigers bus arrived and Midgley was on-board. He would take his place on the Tigers' bench but would remain in his walking clothes all evening as his registration had not come through in time.
Midgley signed for the Eagles during the summer and Managing Director Paul Blake has explained the decision to release him. "It would be fair to say that a move to Everton is in the best interests of all parties concerned."
"The club has been successful in recent years and we had hoped that Richard would want to be part of a club that will hopefully be challenging for silverware again."
"We certainly never like to see any players of such a high calibre leave but we feel that it is never healthy to stand in the way of someone who wants to leave and does not wish to continue playing for us."
He continued, "Although Everton are one of our rivals, I think it is fantastic that Richard is going to continue playing in the BBL and it certainly shows that the Tigers are an ambitious club. We thank Richard for his efforts during the short time he was with us and wish him every success in the future."
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Since his arrival for the Eagles, Midgley has lit up the BBL with his awesome first step, his sensational shooting and his dynamite drives to the basket. He is in the BBL's top 10 for scoring, averaging 20 points a game and in the top 10 for three pointers, shooting a very creditable 44%.
Head Coach Henry Mooney could not hide his delight at capturing probably the best home produced player actually playing in the BBL.
Midgley had announced his arrival into British Basketball through the summer by doing a sterling job for GB Head Coach Chris Finch as they swept all before them to qualify for Eurobasket A.
At the end of lastnight's big win for the Tigers at Sheffield a delighted Mooney was simply savouring the prospect of adding "The MIDGE" to his awesome looking Tigers outfit.
Tigers fans are hoping to get a first look at Midgley this Friday when the Merseyside boys entertain local rivals Cheshire Jets at "Fortress Greenbank".
BBL newboys Everton Tigers last night defeated the Sheffield Sharks in a hard-fought 77-81 victory at the Sheffield Arena. The win sees the Tigers leapfrog the Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders into seventh place in the 07/08 BBL Championship.
After a tight opening to the quarter, the Tigers made the first break with runs of 8 - 2 and 6 - 1 to finish the opening period 21-26 to the good. In the second quarter, a 9-4 start gave the visitors a healthy 25-35 lead, which they carried through for the majority of the period. The Sharks clawed their way back into it with a 5-0 finish to go in at the half trailing by just five points at 39-43.
The second half saw the Tigers continue to stretch away, but they could not shake off a resiient Sharks team, who battled their way back into the game, and an 8-2 burst midway through the final quarter gave them a 69-68 lead. Both sides traded baskets through the closing stages, and with the scores level at 75-75, Calvin Davis netted a long three-pointer with 40 seconds remaining to give the Tigers the lead 75-78.
The sharks got to within two points at 77-79 with 25 seconds left, but another Davis bucket with less than ten seconds left gave the Tigers the all-important victory.
Davis led all scorers in the game with a personal tally of 28 points for the Tigers going 9 for 16 from the field. He was well assisted by Tony Robertson with 24 , including 5 for 8 shooting from the three-point line.
The hometown Sharks were led by Justice Graham with 22 on 7 for 16 shooting from the field and going 8 for 9 from the freethrow line. Shelby Chaney delivered a double double of 16 points and 13 rebounds while Ray McKeithan delivered his own double double of 14 points and 11 boards.
The Sheffield Sharks will look to move back into the top four of the BBL Championship when they host Everton Tigers in a huge game at Sheffield Arena on Wednesday night.
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Sheffield's coach Peter Scantlebury is expecting a tough match-up against the BBL new-boys as the sides meet for the first time,
"They've made a change as they've brought in Luke Lloyd for Woni, and they've had a couple of good results including beating Guildford. They have some experienced guys, and it will be a tough test. We'll need to maintain our focus, but I think we match up pretty well.
"Chris Haslam is their main threat inside, and Tony Robertson is leading their scoring, so they are the two main guys. But they've got the likes of Calvin Davis, David Aliu and Delme Herriman, so there is plenty of experience there."
Sharks had a mixed weekend, losing 80-69 at home against the Mrshall MK Lions on Friday night before bouncing back to hammer Team Birmingham Panthers 98-66 the following day.
The results left coach Scantlebury with mixed emotions, "The result wasn't the one we wanted on Friday evening, we made too many mistakes - you won't win a game with 29 turnovers. But we moved the ball better and we took some positives into the game at Birmingham. We were a lot better against them, we handled their zone well and with better ball and player movement we got the open shots, and knocked them down. Hopefully that will give us some confidence, and we need to keep the flow going against Everton."
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The game will be Sharks' first of the season at the Sheffield Arena, and Scantlebury is looking forward to playing in front of a large crowd, "We're looking forward to it. We've promoted the game a lot, and we're hoping for a packed house.
We need to put on a good performance in front of a big crowd. We've got the following weekend off, so it's important that we play well and build on the win at Birmingham."
Tigers' play-caller Henry Mooney is also looking forward to Wednesday's game, "I saw them early in the season when they played against Jets, and they looked good, but they've been really up and down. They have had some good results, and some really poor ones, I really rate Alto Virgil, and saw him play for Chester last season, but they've been playing him at the point, and I think he's a much better shooting guard.
"The game's being played at Sheffield Arena, and we're really looking forward to playing at that venue."
Kularoos Plymouth Raiders made it five league wins in a row with a comfortable 83-60 home triumph against PAWS London Capital. The result moves the Raiders within two points of leaders Newcastle Eagles and keeps Capital out of the play-off places.
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After a tight opening first quarter, which was shared 13-13, the Raiders began to dominate at both ends of the court. Tight defence to keep Capital to eight second quarter points was complemented with 22 on offence to open up a 35-21 half time advantage.
Capital responded after the break to close to 35-32 but Raiders went away again to hold an eight-point cushion (50-42) heading into the final stanza. Plymouth once again turned up the heat to pull away from the Capital and seal the win.
After waiting almost a season and a half for an away win, Worcester Wolves made it two in a row with an 84 - 115 road victory at BiG Storage Cheshire Jets.
The Wolves were on top form throughout their roster but had a massive game from James Life to thank for the ease of the win. Life score 47-points, with 44 of them coming in the final three periods and 20 in the fourth quarter alone.
After leading 1-0 and 9-8 the Jets were never in front again as an 11-0 Wolves burst in the first quarter set the tone for the match. Ahead 17-29 after one and 37- 54 at the half Wolves didn't even flinch from a 28-point third quarter by the Jets.
With a 65-82 advantage heading into the fourth quarter, Life put on an exhibition of shooting to make the Wolves a serious play-off contender.
Newcastle Eagles went back to the top of the BBL Championship table thanks to a 77-84 victory over the PAWS London Capital at the Capital City Academy on Saturday evening. The Eagles started strongly, and leapt out to an early 11-4 lead, but the Capital got themselves back into it with a 5-2 burst of their own to get the score back to 15-18, but the visitors netted the next five points to lead 15-23 at the end of the first quarter.
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The Eagles maintained their lead throughout the second period, and took a ten-point lead at 35-45 at the half-time break. The third quarter saw the home side start to claw their way back into the game, and Sam Bradley got the Capital back to within five points at 54-59, and they stayed within five at 59-64 going into the final stanza.
In the final period, a four- point play from Bradley, and a two from Tayo Ogedengbe gave the home side the lead at 69-67 with 3.47 remaining.
The game was broken open by the Eagles with a 12-0 tear to take the score out to 69- 79 with less than one minute remaining in the game.
The Capital tried to close the gap, but the Eagles held on for the victory. Richard Midgley led the Eagles scoring with 25 points, but it was Bradley who led all scorers in the game with 26 points for the Capital.
Sheffield Sharks got back to winning ways in the BBL Championship thanks to a convincing 66-98 victory over Team Birmingham Panthers at the University of Wolverhampton, Walsall Campus on Saturday evening.
The Sharks led from the outset, and dominated the game early on with a 16-6 opening to the contest. The Sharks continued on their way throughout the first half, and were helped by some outstanding team three-point shooting hitting 8 from 14 attempts in the first half to help them to a 27-55 half-time lead.
The second half was played in much the same way as the first with the Sharks steadily increasing their lead over their hosts. The Panthers could only get as close as twenty-one points in the final period at 59-80 as the Sharks ran out comfortable winners. Adam Williams led the Panthers scoring with 16 points, while Raymond McKeithan led all scorers in the game with a highly impressive 31-point haul for the Sharks.
Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders moved themselves back into the play-off hunt in the BBL Championship thanks to an 84-70 victory over the Everton Tigers at the John Sanford Centre on Saturday evening. Both sides traded baskets for the majority of the opening period, before the visitors enjoyed a 6-0 burst to lead 17-19, but the Riders immediately responded with a 6-0 run of their own to end the first quarter 23-19 in front. The second period again saw both sides trading baskets, and it was again the home side who maintained the upper hand, leading 43-38 going in at the half.
The second half saw both sides enjoying success from an offensive stand-point with the Tigers tieing the game at 43-43 at the start of the third quarter. The Riders responded with a 9-0 tear of their own to take the score out to 52- 43, before the Tigers netted the next six points to trim the deficit back to three points at 52-49. Another 9-0 run from the Riders, followed by a three-pointer from Everton's Tony Robertson on the buzzer saw the home side taking a nine point lead at 61-52 into the final stanza. Four points from Chris Haslam to start the final period bought the Tigers to within five points at 61-56, but the Riders stayed strong, and a 6-0 burst took the score out to 73-63. The Tigers valiantly attempted to get themselves back into the game, but the Riders made sure of the victory with an 8-1 tear to close out the game 84-70. Rod Wellington led all scorers in the game with 18 points, while Haslam led the Tigers scoring with 17.
Poujoulat Heat Guildford leapfrogged over the SAMG Verve Scottish Rocks into fourth place in the BBL Championship table thanks to a comfortable 108-89 victory over the Worcester Wolves at Worcester University on Saturday evening.
After a close opening, the Heat enjoyed an early 9-0 to lead 9-19, but the Wolves responded with a 13-2 tear of their own to take the lead back at 22-21 towards the end of the first quarter. The second period saw the Wolves take the lead at 38-35 off the back of a 10-0 burst midway through the period, and the home side held a four- point advantage at 52-48 going into the locker rooms at the half. The second half saw the sides trading baskets throughout the majority of the third quarter, but the visitors broke the game open with an 8-2 finish to the period to lead 69-78 going into the final stanza. The Heat maintained their advantage throughout the final period, and despite a 7-0 tear from the Wolves to get the score back to 89-105, the visitors held on to secure the all-important victory. Tony Dorsey led all scorers in the game for the Heat netting 27 points personal, while James Life led the Wolves scoring with 18.
The Marshall MK Lions retained their position at the top of the BBL Championship table as they beat the Sheffield Sharks 69-80 at the English Institute of Sport. It was their first win in the last eight attempts against the Sharks, a spell going back over two years.
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Leading scorer Yorick Williams led the way with 23 points, whilst point guard Terrell Brown added 12. Raymond McKeithan led the hosts with 19 points.
The Lions took an early lead after back-to-back baskets from Shawn Jamison made the score 6-11, only for the Sharks to respond through an Alto Virgil three-pointer and two baskets from McKeithan to snatch the lead at 13-11.
It was the last time the Sharks would lead the game, and the Lions scored the last 8 points of the first period, 5 from Brown and a triple from Williams, to gain a 15-21 advantage.
Locker Okorie narrowed the gap with a put-back that made it 24-27 in the second, but Williams was there again with a three-pointer to spark a further 8 unanswered points, that was part of a 15-6 run that sent the Lions into the half 31-42 in front.
A 26-16 third quarter pushed the lead out further, and Williams settled the game with a triple to end the third stanza with a score of 47-68. Whilst the Sharks narrowed the gap late on, they could not threaten the rampant league-leaders.
The Newcastle Eagles remained in second place in the BBL Championship table, as the Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders slipped to tenth, as the Eagles beat their rivals from the East Midlands by 104-88 at the MetroRadio Arena.
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For Newcastle, it was the ninth win in the last ten games against the Riders, and they were led to it by Richard Midgley's 20 points; Lynard Stewart added 18, whilst Fab Flournoy scored 15. The Riders were led by 21 points from Chad McKnight.
The first quarter was tight, as a pair of long range three-pointers from Kyle Greathouse kept the visitors in touch at 26-24 after the opening ten minutes. The Eagles stretched their lead in the second as a 9-0 burst broke a tie to make it 40-31, and a pair of Andrew Bridge triples saw the half end with the hosts up 53-43.
Further long range shooting from the Riders narrowed the deficit in the third quarter as treys from McKnight and two from Greathouse made it 65-59 and ensured that Leicester went into the decisive stanza with a shot at the upset.
However, 7/8 early free-throws maintained Newcastle's lead, before the game was settled by an 11-2 surge with 4:00 to go. Midgley provided the spark late on with 6 points and multiple assists as Newcastle picked up their tenth win of the campaign.
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The Everton Tigers propelled themselves up the BBL Championship table, into seventh and the playoff places, with a 94-76 defeat of the Team Birmingham Panthers on Friday night.
The Tigers were led by 24 points from Calvin Davis and 22 from Tony Robertson, with David Aliu contributing 18 points. Adam Williams led the response with 23 points in vain.
The home team led from the early stages, but at 27-22 after the first ten minutes and 48-42 at half time, the game remained close.
Everton stamped their authority on the game in the third period as the combination of Davis on the inside, and Robertson driving to the basket, helped them to outscore their opposition 23-13.
The Panthers could not get much closer in the fourth quarter as they lost their sixth game in succession. For the Tigers, it was their third win in four games, and the second time that they have beaten the Panthers by this scoreline.
The Marshall MK Lions went top of the BBL Championship table after an 89-70 home defeat of the PAWS London Capital gave them their seventh win in their last eight league games, and wrapped up the season series with this opposition in the process.
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It was the second time in ten days that the Lions had beaten Capital, after knocking them out of the BBL Cup at the quarter-final stage towards the end of November.
Mike New led the scoring for the victors with 20 points, whilst Yorick Williams netted 17 on the night.
For the Capital, Fred Williams matched New's game-high 20 points.
The Lions were in control from the outset as big man Shawn Jamison scored the opening basket and his team never trailed. They soon moved out to a 13-6 lead before a Yorick Williams three-pointer gave the Lions a 22-14 cushion after the opening ten minutes.
A 9-3 opening to the second stanza highlighted the Lions' dominance on their home floor, where they are 6-2 on the season so far, and when a Kevin Griffin triple sparked a 14-2 surge the score became 45-24 and put the game beyond the Londoners.
The Capital reduced the deficit in the third period inspired by 8 points from Fred Williams but were still 67-48 down going into the fourth. Captain Dru Spinks and Yorick Williams saw the Lions home as they combined to score their team's last 14 points.
DATELINE - 06th DECEMBER 2007
PO |
TEAM
|
PL |
WON |
LOST |
POINTS |
1 |
MILTON KEYNES LIONS |
15 |
10 |
5 |
20 |
2 |
NEWCASTLE EAGLES |
11 |
9 |
2 |
18 |
3 |
PLYMOUTH RAIDERS |
13 |
9 |
4 |
18 |
4 |
SCOTTISH ROCKS |
14 |
8 |
6 |
16 |
Sterling Davis, Head Coach of the SAMG Verve Scottish Rocks, has won the Molten Coach of the Month award for November after guiding his team to a 6-1 record and the BBL Cup semi-finals. It's the first accolade of his coaching career after only taking up the role in the Summer.
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The Rocks had a tough start to the season and were 3-5 going into the month of November, but have turned their fortunes around since then. Their good form is testament to the fact that Davis now seems to have settled into his new role as player/coach.
"It's a real honour to be chosen," said Davis, "but I have to give all the credit to the guys. They've really stepped up and played as a team, which has been the key to our success."
They have gone 4-1 in the BBL Championship and, with the addition of their first win in December, now sit fourth in the table - a climb from eighth as November began. They have also won two BBL Cup matches, against the Worcester Wolves and Sheffield Sharks, to progress to the semi-final stages for the fifth season in succession.
Three of their league wins during the month came away from the Braehead Arena. A successful road trip to the Midlands saw them score a 77-79 win at the Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders, followed by a resounding 69-95 defeat of the Team Birmingham Panthers the following night. They also won 77-99 on Merseyside against the Everton Tigers.
They made the BBL Cup semi-finals with a 59-73 defeat of Davis's former club, the Sheffield Sharks, and that has set up a semi-final clash with the Newcastle Eagles on Saturday 15th December at K2 Arena, Crawley.
The Rocks have continued their good run into December with arguably their most significant win of the season as they beat their biggest rivals, the league-leading Eagles, 92-73 on Sunday. Davis commented after that game,
"We were very good against the Eagles, and we played some solid defence. That has been a big part of the wins we've recorded recently. Rob Yanders played really well, and Julius Joseph stepped up as well."
Anthony Paez of the Worcester Wolves has been named Molten Player of the Month for November after continuing his free-scoring form in an effort to turnaround his team's fortunes.
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Through the month Paez averaged 23 points and 8.1 rebounds per game, and overall he has scored more points than any other player in the BBL Championship so far in the 2007/08 season.
"I'm really pleased for him," said Coach Skouson Harker, the man responsible for bringing him to the BBL. "It's great for him to win the award, but it's also a big confidence boost for the whole club."
The 6'6" forward joined the Wolves in the Summer after featuring for AaB Aalborg in the Danish league last season, where he was the league's top scorer.
He recorded double-doubles on three occasions last month, including 27 points and 10 rebounds against the Sheffield Sharks and 21 points and 11 rebounds against their Midlands rivals the Team Birmingham Panthers.
Undoubtedly the highlight of the month came on the last day of November as his 28 points and 13 rebounds inspired the Wolves to their first ever road win in the BBL Championship, 79-92 over the Everton Tigers. He also had 27 points in their only other win of the month, 103-96 over the PAWS London Capital.
Paez and the Wolves have held that momentum into December and his 18 points and 7 boards helped them to their first ever back-to-back wins in the BBL as they beat the Panthers 72-95 to lift themselves off the bottom of the table.
Paez will be presented with his award at Saturday's home game against the reigning league champions, the Guildford Heat.