FINAL BBL PLAY-OFF PLACE STILL UNDECIDED

LIONS CAN STILL MAKE IT IF RESULTS GO THEIR WAY

HEAT AND RIDERS SECURE HOME COURT ADVANTAGE

After a thrilling night of British Basketball League action, the play-off picture is almost complete with two team guaranteeing themselves home quarter-finals and another hoping that results go their way on the final day to hope that they can squeeze themselves in.

The Airwaves Plymouth Raiders inflicted a potential damaging defeat on the Marshall MK Lions after a 76-74 victory at the Plymouth Pavilions. The Lions had led for the majority of the game but a Gaylon Moore basket in the dying seconds of regulation handed the Raiders the victory.

The Lions must now hope that results go their way on the final day of the regular season in order to be in with a chance of stealing the remaining play- off position.

THINK IT'S COMPLICATED? READ THIS ON THE BBL SITE! CLICK HERE

The Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders and Guildford Heat have both guaranteed themselves a top-four League finish and thus ensuring home quarter-finals in the play-off after they both picked up important victories over the Worcester Wolves and Worthing Thunder respectively.

The Riders were made to work hard by their Midlands counterparts as they eventually ran out 108-104 winners in overtime at the John Sanford Centre. A pair of free-throws from Wolves' Justin Brown with 46 seconds remaining sent the game into overtime despite the efforts of the visitors as their final basket was scored just after the buzzer at the end of regulation.

In the extra period Riders had Brad Wierzbicki to thank as he netted 8 of his 41 total points in overtime including 2 crucial free-throws with 7 seconds remaining to give the Riders the victory.

The Heat enjoyed a little more comfort in their contest as they ran out comfortable 78-93 victors over the Thunder at the Worthing Leisure Centre. The Heat led from tip-to-buzzer and a 6-0 burst midway through the final period took the score out to 65-78 and this was enough to end the home side's resistence.

Final day of the regular season
Sunday 19th April 2009
Guildford Heat v Newcastle Eagles (3:00pm)
Worcester Wolves v Sheffield Sharks (4:00pm)
Scottish Rocks v Everton Tigers (5:00pm)
Cheshire Jets v Worthing Thunder (5:30pm)

SHARKS AND ROCKS SECURE PLAY-OFF BERTHS

LIONS & JETS TIED IN RACE FOR FINAL PLACE

The race for the play-offs entered the final stages on Friday night as both Sheffield Sharks and Scottish Rocks booked their places in the postseason.

It was the Sharks who came out victorious in the game by defeating the Rocks 66-62 at the EIS, Sheffield but because of other results the Rocks have qualified for the play-offs.

The Sharks led for the majority of the game but could not shake off a resilient Rocks outfit as they were able to tie the game at 50-50, but Chris Sanders bagged the last five points of the third quarter to take the Sharks ahead 55-50 and the Sharks held on for the victory.

Everton Tigers put a dent into the BiG Storage Cheshire Jets' hopes of qualifying for the postseason thanks to a 103-97 overtime success at the Greenbank Sports Academy.

A 12-0 Jets run put the visitors in the ascendency at 81-82 with 1:52 remaining, but three points from Andre Smith gave the Tigers an 84-82 lead.

Alto Virgil's basket with 1 minute remaining tied the game for the final time in regulation at 84-84 and sent the game into an extra period.

The Tigers dominated the extra period and Smith was in sparkling form as he bagged 15 of the Tigers 19 points in the overtime period to secure the victory for the home side.

In other BBL Championship action, the League Champions Newcastle Eagles picked up a comfortable 77-64 victory over the PAWS London Capital at the Metro Radio Arena. The visitors had lead 34-40 at the half, but a 15-5 start to the third quarter saw the Eagles take the score out to 51-45 and they did not trail from that point onwards.

FINAL GAMES OF 2008/09
REGULAR SEASON

Saturday 18th April 2009
Worthing Thunder v Guildford Heat (7:00pm)
Leicester Riders v Worcester Wolves (7:30pm)
Plymouth Raiders v Milton Keynes Lions (7:30pm)

Sunday 19th April 2009
Guildford Heat v Newcastle Eagles (3:00pm)
Worcester Wolves v Sheffield Sharks (4:00pm)
Scottish Rocks v Everton Tigers (5:00pm)
Cheshire Jets v Worthing Thunder (5:30pm)

mikeshaft.com ANNOUNCES 08/09 AWARDS

ANDRE SMITH IS VOTED PLAYER OF THE YEAR

mikeshaft.com is delighted to announce the winners of the 2008/09 Awards.

The mikeshaft.com Player of the Year is Andre Smith of the Everton Tigers. Smith, who is in his first year with the Tigers, has been a sensational addition to the BBL and is almost unstoppable with the ball in the paint.

Andre was judged to be the MVP when the Tigers won the BBL Cup back in January. He has also helped the team secure the runners-up spot in the BBL in only their second year in existance..

SEE THE FULL LIST HERE

EAGLES DESTROYED BY REVENGEFUL TIGERS

Everton Tigers 101 (27,52,74) (Smith 25, Gross 22, Herriman 13)
Newcastle Eagles 80 (15,38,56) (Bridge 22, Toney 16, Moore 15)

Everton Tigers came out on top in the battle of the top 2 on Sunday evening as they defeated the BBL Champions, Newcastle Eagles, 101-80 for the first time in three Championship attempts.

The Tigers put together a 10-3 tear midway through the opening quarter to put some daylight between the teams at 20-11 and they led 27-15 at the end of the quarter. After the teams had traded baskets throughout the second quarter the Tigers effectively secured the win with the opening 9 points of the third quarter which took their lead out to a substantial 61- 38.

The hosts lead peaked at 85-60 midway through the final stanza. Tigers Andre Smith led all scorers with 25 points and 10 rebounds. Brit Andrew Bridge responded with 22 points for the Eagles.

READ THE MIKE SHAFT BLOG HERE

BiG Storage Cheshire Jets secured a vital win in their bid to extend their season with a 82-68 road victory over the struggling Airwaves Plymouth Raiders.

The Jets led from tip to buzzer and flew out of the blocks scoring 12 of the first 14 points to take control. After the teams traded baskets for much of the quarter the Jets then closed out the 1st with an 8-2 burst to take a commanding 31-13 lead to the bench.

After an even second stanza the Raiders mounted a comeback at the start of the 3rd as a 10-2 run trim the lead back to 44-54 however Jets responded instantly with a 14-2 tear taking the lead out to 46-68 just before the end of the quarter.

Inside the final quarter the Raiders could get no closer than the final score as they scored the final six points of the game to reduce the margin. Jets Alto Virgil paced their offense with 20 personal points.

Guildford Heat maintained their pursuit of a top 4 finish and home advantage in the play-offs with a commanding 100-76 home success over the Worcester Wolves. The defeat ended Wolves slim hopes of squeezing in to the playoffs.

The Heat broke the game open in the 2nd stanza when Keonta Howell scored 6 points in a 14-5 burst which moved his side 36-26 in front and they went in to the locker room 48-36 to the good. Howell finished the game leading scorer with 33 points and he was to be at fore again as the Heat opened the third quarter with a 10-2 burst to put the result beyond doubt at 58- 38.

The Wolves, led by 26 points by Anthony Paez, tried in vain to get back in to contention but Heat extended their lead out to 30 points just before the final buzzer at 99-69.

Howell notched up 10 rebounds to finish with double double, as did Wolves' Justin Brown who had 16 points and 10 rebounds.

EAGLES SECURE BBL CHAMPIONSHIP AGAIN

The Newcastle Eagles won their third BBL Championship title in four years after defeating their old rivals, the Scottish Rocks, 87-70 at the MetroRadio Arena. The Eagles stormed to the title with a 13 game winning streak in league competition; the streak is 16 games in all competitions and just one short of their all-time longest winning run.

The Rocks, meanwhile, have suffered a late season collapse by losing their last nine games and are at risk of dropping out of the playoffs.

Newcastle's backcourt saw them to victory as Trey Moore led all scorers with 23 points and Reggie Jackson posted 15 points, 10 assists and 6 rebounds. The Eagles led from early in the game a Moore hit a pair of three-pointers in a 9-2 tear to lead 18-10. The Rocks managed to keep the game close as Gareth Murray connected from long range with the last play of the quarter to make the score 21-18.

The Eagles pushed the lead out once more in the second stanza, making it 36-24 on the back of a 13-4 push that included triples for Moore, Jackson and Charles Smith. However, the Rocks pulled it back through Rob Yanders, who had 6 points in an 8-2 run that made it a one-possession game at 41-39. The Eagles still led at 43-39 going into the locker rooms.

Newcastle restricted their visitors to just 12 points in the third quarter. Jackson opened it with a three- pointer, before a 9-2 run pushed it back into double- figures at 55-45, and that would prove to be enough to see them home.

They maintained that lead in the fourth quarter until, after four minutes, they made the decisive run as triples from Moore and Andrew Bridge contributed to a 9-0 run that saw the lead peak at 80-61 with 3:55 remaining.

mikeshaft.com ADDS AUDIO FROM BBC2002

SIR BOB SCOTT Sir Bob Scott is the man who was, almost singlehandedly, responsible for bringing the Commonwealth Games to Manchester. He had been the driving force behind Manchester's two failed Olympic bids. Following his second failure, he decided to turn his attention to the Commonwealth Games. On the day after the Closing Ceremony, we had the great pleasure of speaking to him on Commonwealth Games Radio.

GO TO THE mikeshaft.com AUDIO PAGE HERE

MASSIVE ROAD WIN FOR PLYMOUTH RAIDERS

Guildford Heat 82 (20,36,53) (Harrison 26, Martin 17, Howell 16)
Airwaves Plymouth Raiders 84 (21,44,67) (Lasker 19, Moore 13, Gall 11)

The Airwaves Plymouth Raiders scored a potentially significant victory in the race for one of the top four spots in the BBL Championship as they defeated the Guildford Heat 82-84 at The Spectrum.

Amazingly, it is the seventh time that the clubs have met in all competitions this season, the Raiders have won that lengthy series 5-2, and crucially they have won the BBL Championship series between the teams 3-0. They are now on the Heat's tails in the league, level on points in fourth place although with one more defeat.

The Raiders spread the scoring and were led by Drew Lasker's 19, with support from Gaylon Moore (13) and Allister Gall (11). EJ Harrison, for the Heat, led all scorers with 26 points, including five three-pointers.

The home side gained an early edge in the first quarter largely thanks to the long-range shooting of Harrison. His three-pointer sparked an 8-0 burst, and he repeated the trick soon afterwards to make the score 11-6. However, the first quarter saw seven lead changes and within two minutes the Raiders had the lead at 13-14 on an Anthony Martin score after an 8-2 run. It was a three-pointer from Allister Gall with 42 seconds remaining in the stanza that would give them a lead, at 18-21, that they would take into the first break.

It would not last long as Harrison connected from three-point range once more for a 25-22 advantage for the hosts. Kwbana Beckles responded to tie the game before the Raiders posted an 8-0 burst in a one-minute spell that gave them a 29-37 lead with just over five minutes left in the half. Former Raider Dean Williams scored the next 5 points for the Heat to narrow the gap, but the Raiders would force it out to its first half peak at 36-44 as Gaylon Moore and a Gerald Robinson triple rounded off the first half.

The Raiders carried that momentum into the third period and posted an early 9-1 run, including four each for Lasker and Moore, to lead by double figures for the first time at 39-53. Another Harrison three stemmed the flow, but it wasn't until he scored again from long range 2:30 later, to cap a short 7-3 run, that the Heat had it back down to within single figures at 51-60. James Noel and DeAntoine Beasley combined to rattle off five points for the visitors, and Martin scored late in the quarter to ensure that they carried a commanding 53-67 lead into the fourth - a cushion that they would need.

Despite Allister Gall opening the fourth period with a three-pointer, the Heat rallied with an immediate 11-1 burst to trail just 64-71 and set up the exciting finale. A 9-0 run soon followed that was capped by Howell's three-pointer to tie the game at 73; in total the Heat went 20-3 after the opening basket of the quarter. Lasker scored at three crucial points to keep Plymouth's noses in front, but they relinquished that lead when Howell's three-pointer was followed by a Harrison score with 50 seconds left and the score at 82-81.

However, with 25 seconds remaining in the game Beasley was fouled shooting a three-pointer and made all of his free-throws. The Heat had a chance to tie the game, but failed on that attempt.

EAGLES NOW 1 WIN AWAY ... SHARKS SMILING

The Newcastle Eagles took a step closer to the BBL Championship title as they made it 15 wins in a row by beating the Worcester Wolves 95-82 at the MetroRadio Arena. This is now the second longest winning run in the club's history and leaves them just two shy of the 17 straight wins that they recorded on their way to the 'clean sweep' of all four domestic trophies in 2005/06.

Reggie Jackson led all scorers with 23 points, with backcourt partner Trey Moore adding 18 and GB hopeful Tafari Toney posting another double-double of 10 points and 17 rebounds.

The Eagles, and Jackson in particular, dominated a high-scoring first quarter that set them up for the victory. Jackson and Moore hit three-pointers during an 8-0 burst that made the score 23-10, before a late 11-2 burst saw them leading by 37-20 after the opening ten minutes. Jackson scored 16 of his points in the first quarter alone, while Moore had 10.

There were wins for two of the other sides in the top four: the Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders and the Guildford Heat.

The Riders are now up to their second highest total of wins in BBL history after beating the Scottish Rocks 75-88 in Glasgow. They now have 19 league wins, chasing a club record of 20 in the 1993/94 season.

The win came courtesy of the duo of Bradd Wierzbicki (27) and Tommy Swanson (25), who combined for over half of Leicester's points.

In the third quarter, they restricted the Rocks to just one basket in the last 4:35 as Swanson started and finished a 16-2 surge, during which Wierzbicki hit back-to-back triples and nine straight points. That saw the Riders leading 55-70 heading into the fourth quarter, a position from which they were never threatened.

At The Spectrum, the Guildford Heat weathered a late storm from the Marshall MK Lions to prevail 75-74 and win their sixth consecutive game since losing the BBL Trophy Final last month.

The Heat used a 16-2 spell in the third quarter to lead 62-56 going into the decisive period, and still led 72- 63 with five minutes remaining when Dean Williams scored a three-pointer. However, they would not score in the final 3:35 as the Lions rallied with a 9-0 finish. Jayson Obazuaye's three-pointer made the score 75- 74 with 55 seconds remaining, but the Heat did enough to hold on for the victory.

Elsewhere, the Sheffield Sharks forced their way into the BBL Championship playoff places with a 77-81 defeat of the BiG Storage Cheshire Jets, that saw them pass their perennial rivals on the way up to seventh place in the BBL Championship.

The weekend results see the Cheshire Jets in 8th and the Milton Keynes Lions in 9th with exactly the same records of 13 & 17.

Perhaps the team with most to fear at the moment is the Scottish Rocks. They have a horrible run-in and probably need at least 2 victories from their final 4 games to ensure their play-off status.

The games against the Lions on the 13th and the Sharks on the 17th are probably must wins!

SCOTTISH ROCKS RUN-IN

10th	Newcastle Eagles	Scottish Rocks	19:30	A
13th	Scottish Rocks	MK Lions	17:00	H
17th	Sheffield Sharks	Scottish Rocks	19:30	A
19th	Scottish Rocks	Everton Tigers	17:00	H

CARDINALS DEFEAT LEEDS IN DIV 4 CHAMPIONSHIP

GAME REPORT TO FOLLOW

TIGERS MAKE WORTHING THUNDER PAY

The Everton Tigers strolled to a 121-91 victory after destroying the Worthing Thunder. Despite great performances by Janis Ivanovsks with 30 & 7 and Ryan Patton with 25 this was a night when the Tigers players could fill their boots.

And fill their boots they did with the Irrepressible Andre Smith going for 35 points & 12 rebounds. He shot 6 for 7 from the arc and missed only 3 shots all night.

The Tigers moved the ball beautifully and finished the night with 29 assists. They shot 62% from the field, 73% from the line and an astonishing 68% from the arc.

The awesome Josh Gross finished with 27 points 4 rebounds and 5 assists. He was monsterous on this night with an array of dunks and moves to keep the fans entertained.

The Tigers shot 19 for 28 three pointers with James Jones going 4 for 7 and Gross 3 for 5.

Perhaps the biggest performance of the night came from BBL veteran Tony Dorsey who was truly his old self.

He had a massive night ending with 16 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists. His moves in the paint brought back some wonderful memories.

It is obvious that recent lack lustre performances against the Newcastle Eagles have hurt the Tigers and someone was going to have to pay. Unfortunately for the Worthing Thunder, theirs was the next game in the schedule.

OH BABY! OH BABY! OH BABY!

SHARKS WIN OT THRILLER IN SHEFFIELD

Sheffield Sharks 83 (19,34,54,74) (Whyte/Rivers 20, Sanders 15)
Marshall MK Lions 80 (22,37,55,74) (Williams 20, Eddie/Youngblood 14)

Sheffield Sharks moved themselves into a three-way tie for seventh position in the BBL Championship table thanks to a sensational 83-80 overtime victory over fellow play-off challengers Marshall MK Lions at the EIS, Sheffield on Thursday evening.

The Sharks lead 74-69 midway through the final period but a Tommy Eddie three-pointer and a Terrell Brown basket for the Lions tied the score at 74-74 with just under two minutes remaining.

Both sides had opportunities to win the game in regulation but neither could finish off the game as time expired.

OVERTIME!

In the extra period both teams enjoyed 4-0 bursts to remain tied at 78-78. When Matt Gorman fouled Michel New, the veteran stepped up and nailed both from the charity stripe.

Chris Sanders then made 1-from-2 at the line giving the Lions a 79-80 lead midway through the period.

A Marshall Brown two-pointer gave the Sharks the lead for the first time in the additional period at 81-80 before two free - throws from Perry Lawson took the Sharks out to 83-80 from which the Milton Keynes Lions would not recover.

The Lions did have opportunities to tie the game once more but their three-point attempts, so successful earlier in the game (11/30) simply would not drop and the Sharks held on for the all-important victory.

Earlier in the game the Sharks lead 16-12, but a 7-0 burst from the Lions midway through the opening quarter gave the visitors a 16-19 lead. The Lions continued to extend their lead throughout the remainder of the first half and led by as many as eight points at 29-37. The Sharks ended the half with the final five points to trail 34-37 going into the locker room.

In the second half both teams traded baskets throughout much of the third period, but it was the Lions who held onto a slender one-point lead at 54-55 going into the final stanza.

In the final quarter the home side enjoyed a 6-0 burst midway through it to take the score out to 66-60 before the Lions responded with the next five points of their own to trim the deficit back to 66-65 before the fireworks of the closing stages began. A combination of James Whyte and Sherman Rivers that led the scoring for the Sharks with 20 points a-piece, while Yorick Williams led the Lions in scoring with 20 points as well including 4 from beyond the arc.

Stand out performances by Chris Sanders with15 points, 17 rebounds, and James Whyte with 20 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists deserve mention.

With 2 minutes and 55 seconds left in regulation, Tommy Eddie nailed a monstrous three from downtown which destroyed the Sharks plans to finish this one in regulation. Earlier on in the game, in a piece of historical madness, Robert Youngblood nailed two, back-to-back, from beyond the arc both of which bobbled about on the rim before some invisible hand gently dropped them in. It was that kind of contest.

This was another fantastic night of BBL action and congratulations must go to both teams for making this a most memorable night.

UNSTOPPABLE EAGLES NOW JUST 2 GAMES AWAY

Newcastle Eagles 89 (19,50,70) (Smith 21, Moore 21, Jackson 17)
Everton Tigers 79 (18,35,57) (Smith 33, Babalola 17, Gross 15)

Newcastle Eagles are just two wins away from retaining the BBL League title after beating nearest rivals Everton Tigers 89-79 in the north east. It is the Eagles 14th consecutive victory and the second in the space of just over 48 hours against the Tigers, following their 79-90 win on Merseyside on Sunday.

After a tight first quarter which ended with Eagles holding a slender one point lead (19-18), Fab Flournoy's team broke open the match with a 10-0 start to the second period.

Eagles then took the score from 31-26 to 46-28, their biggest lead of the half, before a rally from Tigers brought it back to 50-35 at the interval.

Tigers, led by Andre Smith, continued to chip away at the Eagles advantage in the third quarter. The visitors clawed it back to 61-57 but a 9-0 end to the period, with five from Trey Moore and four from Charles Smith gave Newcastle a 70-57 cushion with ten minutes to play.

A three to begin the final stanza seemed to make Eagles position even safer, but back again came the Tigers to close to 79-74 with 1.53 remaining. Flournoy's men responded though to put a decisive 10-2 burst together to finally see off Everton.

Andre Smith led all scorers with 33 points, while Charles Smith and Trey Moore both hit 21 for the hosts. Tap Toney pulled down 19 boards to go with his 12 points for the Eagles.

GAME 1 - TIGERS GO DOWN TO RAMPANT EAGLES

MIKE SHAFT BLOG TO FOLLOW

 

After another exciting night of British Basketball, the Newcastle Eagles extended their lead to eight points at the top of the BBL Championship table thanks to a 79-90 victory over second-placed Everton Tigers in front of a crowd of over 5000 people at the Echo Arena on Sunday afternoon.

Everton got themselves back into the game with a 7-0 burst to open up the final quarter to get the score back to 65-73, but eight points from Reggie Jackson in an 11-3 burst for the Eagles took the score out to 68-84 with 3:49 remaining, and the Tigers could not get themselves back into the game.

In other BBL Championship action there were victories for the Guildford Heat and the BiG Storage Cheshire Jets as they defeated the Scottish Rocks and Marshall MK Lions respectively.

The Heat moved themselves into third position in the table after a 66-74 victory over the Rocks at Kelvin Hall. Despite three-pointers from Rob Yanders and Gareth Murray to get the Rocks to within a point at 66- 67 with less than a minute remaining, the Heat bagged the final seven points of the game to secure the victory. The win now puts the Heat on a record of 17 & 10.

The Jets moved themselves level on points with the seventh-placed Lions after a 92-83 victory over them at the Northgate Arena. A 13-1 burst to open the final stanza took the score out to 69-58 in the Jets favour, and there was no way back for the visitors.

The Jets record of 13 and 16, sees them take sole posession of the final play-off position, one win better that the Sheffield Sharks in 9th.

MORE BASKETBALL NEWS MARCH 2009

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