MIKE SHAFT ADDS GOSPEL HOUR TO SUNDAYS

Back in 2002 during the Commonwealth Games in Manchester, I was working at BBC 2002 Commonwealth Games Radio.  I got a phone call from the manager of BBC GMR asking if I was available to present their Sunday Breakfast programme as holiday cover.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

GREAT BRITAIN WOMEN BACK IN EUROBASKET A

Great Britain Women were promoted to Europe's top division following an undefeated six games in 2007, but last year the narrowest of defeats to Germany, of 74-72, ultimately saw them thrown into a relegation round in January of this year.

Chris Spice, the Performance Director of British Basketball said: "It has been a great week for the British Basketball programme. We have confirmed a head coach of Olympic proportions and also received news that the strides we have taken to be seen as a top European nation have been recognised.

"We are thankful to FIBA and FIBA Europe for the opportunity to prove that we belong in Europe's elite and believe that the group of talent we have at present, combined with Tom's calibre, will equate to a successful A Division campaign. I'd like to also thank all of my colleagues for their help in achieving this fantastic news."

Without their American college players, who were not released for the games against Bosnia & Herzegovina, Romania and Finland, Britain lost out in a four-nation round robin relegation series, across 16- days.

However, FIBA Europe has deemed a combination of both their performances against the top European sides, and that London 2012 represents a great opportunity to promote the sport, as an opportunity to reinstate the nation to Division A competition in 2010-11.

"The Board of FIBA Europe at its meeting in Cannes on Friday, 10th May 2009 has exceptionally approved the admission of the Great Britain (GBR) women's team to Division A of the EuroBasket women 2009," said Nar Zanolin, FIBA Europe Secretary General in an official letter.

"This decision was taken for the purpose of promoting basketball in Great Britain and in line with your request to allow your country to continue to play for the London Olympics 2012."

British Basketball has just appointed Tom Maher as the head coach of the Great Britain women's team, through to London 2012, and will use this summer to prepare for next year's Division A games.

READ ALL ABOUT THE 2009 BBL CHAMPIONSHIP WEEKEND

Pt 1 HERE | Pt 2 HERE

Newcastle Eagles 87 (36,51,70) (Moore 22, Jackson 19, Defoe 18)
Everton Tigers 84 (17,40,52) (Midgley 36, Babalola 25, Bailey 8)

Newcastle Eagles won their fourth BBL Championship Play-off title in five years on Sunday by beating Everton Tigers 87-84 in a thrilling game at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham in British basketball's showpiece event.

Trey Moore was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) for his 22-point, 5-rebound haul for the victorious Eagles.

Eagles' Head Coach Fab Flournoy commented after the game, "I'm proud of my team. It's been another successful season for the Newcastle Eagles and we are happy to end on such a high, giving our fantastic fans the win they deserved for their great support."

The teams traded baskets in the opening minute, before Eagles went on a 7-0 run to take an early 10-4 lead. Player of the Year Trey Moore was marking himself out as an early contender for the MVP award, with ten first quarter points, despite an unlikely miss from the free throw line. Another 7-0 burst put Eagles 17-6 to the good, with Moore once again dominant.

A string of four three-pointers followed, as the teams wowed the crowds. Reginald Jackson bagged four long-range baskets on his own as it was Eagles' fans who had the most to cheer about as they went into the second quarter 36-17 ahead.

Everton Tigers rallied early in the second period, scoring 11 of the first 13 points to reduced the deficit to 10 points at 38-28 to Newcastle. The Tigers' defence was much improved as they kept Eagles to just 15 points in the quarter. Richard Midgley stepped up and scored 10 personal points, but it was not enough to cut the gap down to single figures, as Newcastle led 51-40 at half-time.

Early in the third quarter Tigers cut the gap to single figures at 54-46, but Newcastle replied with six without reply to re-establish their double digit advantage. They led 60-46 and though the teams traded baskets for a few minutes, Eagles edged the final minutes to lead 70-52 by the end of the quarter.

Led by Richard Midgley, Tigers hit back strongly in final quarter. Midgley hit two three pointers in quick succession to cut the gap back down to 13 points at 77-64. Another Midgley long range basket - three of seven points in the run - helped Tigers on a 13-2 tear, which put them just four point adrift at 81-77.

What followed was the most exciting basketball of the weekend, as Tigers battled frantically to produce an incredibly comeback. With 16 seconds left Flournoy fouled out for Eagles. Midgley for Tigers and Moore for Eagles then netted twice each from the foul line, as Eagles led 86-82 with 15 seconds left. Midgley scored again with nine seconds left to bring the game back to within two points at 86-84. However, Everton were in the penalty and forced to foul to re-gain possession. Jackson netted one of his two foul shots to take the score to 87-84 and though Midgley attempted to level the scores with a long range shot, his attempt found empty space and the Eagles were victors.

It was a valiant attempt by Everton, led in no small part by Richard Midgley who scored a record-breaking 36 personal points. Olu Babalola added 25 for Everton, to no avail. As with the regular season, Eagles had snatched the silverware from Tigers, but Everton finish the season with their heads held high.

READ THE MIKE SHAFT CHAMPIONSHIP BLOG HERE

Newcastle Eagles 93 (17,46,66) (Moore 25, Bridge 22, Jackson 16)
Airwaves Plymouth Raiders 71 (16,30,48) (Noel 21, Robinson 14, Moore 10)

Newcastle Eagles became the first team to book their place in the BBL Championship Play-off Final, with their 93-71 victory over Airwaves Plymouth Raiders at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham on Saturday.

It was a tentative start to the game, with both team scoreless for the best part of the first two minutes. Player/coach Fab Flournoy broke the deadlock, netting for Newcastle and the Eagles led 7-5 early doors. Plymouth went on an 11-3 tear with Noel, Moore, Martin and Lasker sharing the load - Charles Smith scored Newcastle's only points in that tear.

An Andrew Bridge three pointer edged Eagles closer, before a Smith bucket and two free throws from Reginald Jackson saw Eagles take the lead at 17-16 at the end of the first quarter.

Eagles kept their momentum going in the second quarter and took the first double digit lead of the game at 33-23 with five minutes to go It was part of a 16-4 Eagles run, which saw them take a 39-24 lead.

Andrew Bridge was Newcastle's stand-out scorer in the first half, with 16 personal points, as they took a 46-30 lead into the second half.

In the third quarter, the teams traded baskets early on. With the score at 50-37 Newcastle went on an 8-0 run with Jackson scoring half of Eagles' point in that tear. Plymouth rallied briefly, bagging six of the next nine points, but still trailed 61-43. A buzzer-beating three pointer from Gerald Robinson cut the deficit still further to 66-48 by the end of the quarter.

Plymouth reduced the arrears to 14 points in the final stanza, but Newcastle's Trey Moore stepped up and scored seven points in quick succession to extend Eagles lead to 82-61. There was no way back for Plymouth and the game ended 93-71 to Newcastle.

Trey Moore was the game's top scorer with 25 points, as the game lived up to its seeding as BBL Champions winners booked their place in Sunday's Final.

Everton Tigers 81 (27,46,61) (Midgley 24, Gross 20, Bailey 16)
Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders 65 (19,36,47) (Missere 16, James 15, Swanson 12)

Everton Tigers join Newcastle Eagles in the BBL Championship Play-off Final after beating Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders 81-65 in their Semi-final at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham on Saturday.

Everton edged the early exchanges, scoring six of their first eight points. Riders rallied and hit the next eight points without reply to lead 10-6; Duane James scoring four of those eight points for Riders. After trading the next few baskets, Andrew Midgley stepped up his game; he scored two of his five first-half three-pointers in a 14-1 run that gave Tigers the lead at 24-17.

Everton led 27-19 going into the second quarter. They extended their lead to 12 points at 36-24, but Westbrook, Missere and Swanson pulled Riders closer. Leicester scored eight unanswered points to cut the deficit to four points at 36-32 to Everton. A 6-0 run for Tigers re-established a double-digit lead for them and they went in at the break 46-36 to the good.

In a low scoring third quarter, Leicester looked to get back into contention. They got back to within six points at 52-46, but Everton immediately responded with a Olu Babalola bucket and a Richard Midgley three pulling Tigers lead back out to 13 points at 59-46.

With the score at 61-47 going into the final quarter, it was a tall order for Leicester to overhaul their deficit and it proved too much for them. 13 points from Josh Gross, including three spectacular dunks, saw Everton through with a final score of 81-65.

Gross finished the game with 20 personal points, topped only by team-mate Richard Midgley's 24 points, as the second seeds set up a Play-off Final with top seeds Newcastle Eagles.

The British Basketball League have teamed up with Claremont Media to offer you the opportunity to access on-line footage (delayed) of the BBL All Star Game and the biggest game in the UK Basketball Calendar, The BBL Championship Playoff Final via www.bbltv.net.

For only £3 you will get access to the events on the internet for playback at your convenience. Whether you simply want to watch it again, missed a bit of the game or just can't make it, then BBLTV will allow you to watch the All Star Game and the Final.

In line with production timescales the footage will be available within less than 48 hours of the event.

To subscribe please go to www.bbltv.net and follow the online instructions. Logon details will be provided nearer to the event.

Commentary on the weekend's proceedings will be presented by Mike Shaft and British Basketball legend Todd Cauthorn.

BBL FINALS WEEKEND

Saturday 2nd May NIA, Birmingham
Newcastle Eagles v Airwaves Plymouth Raiders
Everton Tigers v Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders

Sunday 3rd May NIA, Birmingham
BBL 2009 All Star Game
BBL Championship Game

Newcastle Eagles' Trey Moore has became the only the third player in the 22 year history of the BBL to win the Molten Player of the Year award for a second time.

The 33-year-old point guard won the league and finished runner-up - ironically to Newcastle - in the play-offs with Chester Jets during the 2004/5 season, and collected the BBL player-of-the-year as well.

It is the second individual award that Moore has collected this season as he was named MVP following Eagles 83-71 victory against Guildford Heat which saw them win the BBL Trophy. Moore finished with 28 points as the Eagles continued their fine record in the competition.

Moore was a happy man after being told he had edged out Everton Tigers' Andre Smith to win the award: "I'm very excited about it, though I'm more happy about how the season went for the Eagles than individual awards. At the same time, though, it's good to achieve personal goals. It's been great to win the league and the Trophy, and I'm thrilled to be part of the Newcastle team."

The Eagles guard is enjoying his time with the north east club: "I've definitely enjoyed my time with Newcastle. It's a great team, and Fab and guys have worked hard every day as we try to improve. We've definitely improved during the season, and we've stuck together well."

Eagles coach Fab Flournoy is pleased to see his player win the award: "I'm extremely happy for him, and I think it's a great feat for him to leave the BBL as MVP, and win it again a couple of years after coming back. I think when Lynard [Stewart] won it last year it was pretty much a forgone conclusion, but this year he had to contend with Andre Smith and it could have gone that way. I wasn't allowed to vote for him, so it's a testament to his all round play. It's not the amount of points he's put up, but being able to do other things for the team. I'm sure he'll be thrilled with the accomplishment, and he really deserves it."

The full teams is as follows:

1. Trey Moore - Newcastle Eagles
2. Andre Smith - Everton Tigers
3. Keonta Howell - Guildford Heat
4. Rob Yanders - Scottish Rocks
5. Tommy Swanson - Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders
6. Mike Martin - Guildford Heat
7. Josh Gross - Everton Tigers
8. Andrew Lasker - Airwaves Plymouth Raiders
9. Anthony Paez - Worcester Wolves
10. Chris Sanders - Sheffield Sharks

The Molten BBL 'Player of the Year' is voted for by the Head Coaches of teams in the BBL and they are not allowed to vote for anyone from their own team

Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders' Rob Paternostro has marked his first season as a play- caller by collecting the Molten BBL Coach of the Year award.

After a successful career as a point guard in the BBL, Paternostro stepped into the Riders hot-seat last summer, and has led them to their highest ever position in the country's top league.

Riders finished third in the BBL Championship with a 21-12 record in snatch home court advantage in the play-offs for the first time since 1991 and it is an achievement recognised throughout the BBL as the New York born Paternostro collected the award in his first season.

"I look at it as a team of the year award, and I think our guys have come to play in every game. they've been committed since the beginning of the season and have been a joy to work with. It's their performances that have enabled me to win the award, and I want to share it with the team as they deserve it."

Thirty-six year old Paternostro quit playing in the summer after an eight year career in the BBL which saw him play for Birmingham clubs Bullets and Panthers as well as spending a year with Riders in 20006/07, and despite a season that has seen his team ravaged by injury, he has enjoyed his first year coaching:

"It's been a difficult season in lots of was due to the injuries we've had. When Bradd [Wierzbicki] and Phil [Missere] went down injured at the same time we were playing some of our best basketball of the season, and it was a big blow. But in a way it was a blessing in disguise as we were able to get contributions from other players, and that made the team stronger down the stretch."

"As a coach, due to all of the injuries, I've had to adjust to us playing in many different styles. We've switched to cover for injuries, and then we've had people back and we've had to switch again. It's been like several seasons in one before I've had to learn how to coach different styles with different personnel. It's certainly been a learning experience."

RAIDERS DEFEAT HEAT TO PROGRESS

Guildford Heat 81 (19, 42, 58) (Howell 21, Martin 21, Harrison 19)
Airwaves Plymouth Raiders 89 (18, 42, 67) (Lasker 26, Martin 16, Robinson 13)

The Airwaves Plymouth Raiders won through to the BBL Finals Weekend after beating the Guildford Heat by 81-89 at The Spectrum on Sunday. It is the second season in a row that the Raiders have made the BBL Championship Playoff semi-finals, and they are the only team outside of the top four to have done so this season. The Heat were the defending champions, and had previously made it to the Finals Weekend in each of the last three seasons.

Drew Lasker led all scorers with 26 points for the Raiders, while Anthony Martin had 16 points and 4 assists.

After being tied at 42 at half time, the Raiders did the damage in the third quarter as they opened it with the first eight points, all from Lasker, before pushing the lead into double digits for the first time in the game as Martin's three-pointer ignited a 9-0 burst that gave them a 51-63 lead.

Previously, the Heat had edged a tight first quarter behind 11 points from Mike Martin. He scored five in a 7-0 burst midway through that gave them a 14-8 lead. However, it wouldn't last long as DeAntoine Beasley and Gerald Robinson combined to score the next eight for the Raiders; the latter scored five and made a three-pointer that gave the visitors the lead back at 14-16. But it was Keonta Howell's three-pointer within the last minute that helped the Heat to a 19-18 lead after the first ten minutes.

The game was equally tight in the second stanza with four lead changes in the opening exchanges. The Heat edged ahead with a 7-2 run as Howell and Harrison notched back-to-back scores and Alan Metcalfe made a three-point play to lead 32-26. Anthony Martin responded with a three-pointer for the visitors, before Chad McKnight hit five in a row for the Heat and gave them a 37-31 lead with 4:52 remaining in the quarter.

However, within the last three minutes the Raiders snatched the lead back after Allister Gall hit three consecutive three-pointers in a 9-0 burst that made the score 39-42. Howell was there with 25 seconds remaining to ensure that the Heat went in level at 42 at the break.

After Plymouth's opening run in the third, Howell and Harrison stemmed the flow with scores for the Heat, who drew close when former Raider Dean Williams made a three-pointer to narrow the gap to 51-54. Martin's triple and a 9-0 run followed, but the Heat were still in contention going into the decisive stanza as Howell's late three-pointer made the score 58-67.

The Raiders managed to hold off the home team in the fourth quarter, largely thanks to the cushion that they established after opening the period with the first five points to lead 58-72. The lead was still 64-79 going into the final four minutes, when Harrison's three-pointer sparked an 11-0 surge as the Heat looked to save their season. That run was halted by Anthony Martin's free-throw and a Lasker score, before the teams exchanged free-throws for the last 1:30. Lasker and Gaylon Moore held their nerve for the Raiders to see the game out.

BBL FINALS WEEKEND

Saturday 2nd May NIA, Birmingham
Newcastle Eagles v Airwaves Plymouth Raiders
Everton Tigers v Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders

Newcastle Eagles 88 (21,42,69) (Moore 20, Jackson 16, Toney 14)
BiG Storage Cheshire Jets 83 (22,36,61) (Perre 25, Davis 18, Phifer 15)

League champions Newcastle Eagles were made to work hard by eighth seed BiG Storage Cheshire Jets before booking their trip to Birmingham with an 88-83 win in the north east.

The Jets proved a tough side to shake off but a Reggie Jackson steal off Shawn Myers, which could have seen the Jets player close the gap to just two in the final 30 seconds, eventually proved to be the decisive play.

Trey Moore scored one of two from the line to put Eagles up by five with only five ticks left on the clock and there was no way back for the visitors.

The first quarter saw Jets break the match open with a 7-0 run to take the lead at 6-13. Newcastle gradually worked their way back into it with threes by Andrew Bridge and Jackson helping them close to 18-19 at the period ended 21-22 to the Jets.

Eagles seized control in the second quarter to go up 37-24. However, a 10-3 run by Jets to close the half pulled the score back to 42-36 at the break.

An 8-0 start to the third quarter by Newcastle seemed to spell the end of the Jets challenge but yet again they refused to buckle. Frank Phifer scored six points in a 13-4 run to bring the score back to 54-51.

Newcastle used a 7-2 burst, including a thunderous dunk and one by Great Britain training squad member Tap Toney from a Trey Moore alley-oop, to move out to 61-53. The sides traded points for the rest of the quarter at Eagles took a 69-61 lead into the final stanza.

Jets put together a 9-2 run to close to 76-73 with 6.04 left in the match but that was as close as they'd get with Eagles always keeping more than one play ahead.

Everton Tigers 84 (21,37,58) (Midgley 18, Gross 17, Bailey 11)
Scottish Rocks 64 (16,34,52) (Johnson 18, Yanders 13, Murray 12)

Everton Tigers used a big fourth quarter performance to eventually ease through to the play-offs Final Four as they beat Scottish Rocks 84-64.

Tigers led by six at the end of the third frame but two Marcus Bailey threes and one each from James Jones, Josh Gross and Andre Smith provided the backbone for a dominating final period.

Earlier the match had been much tighter. Rocks had kept the game close in the first quarter until a Jones triple with five seconds remaining gave Tigers their biggest lead at 21-16.

An Olu Babalola dunk began the second quarter to put Everton up by seven but back-to-back threes by Rocks Wil Johnson and Gareth Murray helped the visitors close the gap.

Rocks took the lead after a 6-0 run on a Randy George two at 28-30 and George did it again to make it 31-32. Threes by Smith and Jones though gave Tigers a 37- 34 advantage at the half.

With the game still close at 43-42, Everton gradually began to pull away midway through the third quarter. A 12-3 run saw them go up be double-digits and despite a flurry from the Rocks the hosts still led by six (58-52) heading into the last ten minutes.

Bailey started the fourth quarter with a three and after Rocks had trimmed the lead to 63-56 the Tigers went on a 16-0 burst over a seven minute period to take the match and set up a meeting with Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders in the play-offs semi-final.

The Tigers' man of the moment, Josh Gross finished with17 points including a couple of monster dunks, 6 rebounds and 3 blocked shots. Richard Midgley finished with 18 points all from beyond the arc.

LEICESTER RIDERS DEFEAT SHEFFIELD SHARKS 72-71
IN ABSOLUTE CLASSIC

A Brad Wierzbicki three-pointer with 1 second remaining in the game was enough to end the Sharks season and send the Riders through to BBL Finals Weekend.

BBL Championship Play-off Game 1
Leicester Riders 72 (21,38,54) (Swanson 25, James 14, Wierzbicki 13)
Sheffield Sharks 71 (18,43,57) (Whyte 17, Sanders/Gorman/Rivers 14)

Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders became the first team through to the semi-finals of the BBL Championship for the first time since 2001 after a hard-fought and thrilling 72-71 victory over the Sheffield Sharks at the John Sanford Centre on Wednesday evening.

Justin Brown made 1-from-2 from the foul-line for the Sharks to give them a 69-71 lead with 10.3 seconds remaining in the game. The Riders came out of their time-out and inbounded the ball to Dwayne James who drove to the basket and passed the ball out to Brad Wierzbicki who nailed the three-pointer to give

the home side the lead at 72-71 lead with 1 second remaining and give the home side the victory.

Earlier in the game Chris Sanders netted ten of the Sharks first twelve points to give them a 6-12 lead, but the Riders responded with a 7- 0 burst to give themselves side a slender lead at 13-12 midway through the first quarter. Both sides traded baskets through the first quarter and it was the home side who led at the end of the first period by a score of 21-18.

In the second, the Sharks clawed themselves back into the game with a 7-1 burst to take the lead at 31-34 midway through the period. The visitors continued to hold off a resilent Riders offence and a three-pointer from Todd Cauthorn on the half-time buzzer gave the Sharks a 38-43 lead going into the locker rooms.

The second half started very tightly with both teams trading baskets throughout the third period where the biggest lead was at three-points at any one time and the lead changed hands on four different occasions, but it was the Sharks who kept their noses in front at 54-57 going into the final stanza.

In the final period, the Riders scored the opening six points of the quarter to re-take the lead at 60-57 but a 9-2 burst from the Sharks gave the visitors the lead back at 62-66 with 3 minutes remaining in the game. Free-throws from Wierzbicki and a massive offensive board and putback by Isaac Westbrook levelled the game at 66-66 with 2:17 left.

Baskets from James Whyte and Matt Gorman kept the Sharks in front at 67-70 with 58 seconds remaining before a pair of free-throws bought the Riders back to within a point at 69-70 with 48 seconds left. Brown's free-throw was the final points that the Sharks scored before the fireworks of the last 10 seconds of play.

The awesome Tommy Swanson led all scorers in the game with 25 points and 12 rebounds for the Riders, while Whyte was the leading man for the Sharks with 17 points personal.

This was a great night for the home supporters and for first time Head Coach Rob Paternostro who has led his team to the BBL Finals Weekend at the first attempt.

Saturday 2nd & Sunday 3rd May 2009

BBL Championship Weekend
NIA Birmingham

The BBL Championship regular season came to an exciting end on Sunday as the Newcastle Eagles signed off with a victory, the Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders were confirmed as finishing third, the Sheffield Sharks secured sixth, and the Scottish Rocks snapped an eleven game losing streak.

In what was one of the tightest battles for league positioning in recent memory, the Guildford Heat had to overcome the league champions, Newcastle Eagles, to secure third place in the BBL Championship.

However, despite a fourth quarter fightback, they fell 96-100 to the Eagles thereby handing third spot to the Riders. That came courtesy of Leicester's tense 108-104 overtime defeat of the Worcester Wolves on Saturday, in which Bradd Wierzbicki amassed 41 points, including 8 in the crucial extra period.

That win ensured the Riders secured their highest ever BBL Championship finish and their most number of wins in any BBL Championship season with 21. The Riders will now meet the Sheffield Sharks in the playoffs on Wednesday night.

The Heat were on the verge of third place after a fantastic week that had already seen them win 107-101 over the Everton Tigers on Wednesday and 78-93 against the Worthing Thunder on Saturday. That was part of an end-of-season run in which they won 9 of their last 11 games to take real momentum into the BBL Championship Playoff quarter-finals, where they will meet the Airwaves Plymouth Raiders for the eighth time this season.

They have an excellent post season record, having won the playoffs last year, made at least the semi-finals in each of the last three years, and never having lost in the quarter-finals.

The Sheffield Sharks staged a fourth quarter comeback against the Worcester Wolves to snatch sixth place from the Scottish Rocks and set up that playoff tie with the Riders. Matt Gorman scored 26 points in their 100-109 defeat of the Wolves, including the opening six points of the fourth and a three-pointer in a crucial 8-0 run that followed soon afterwards.

The Sharks have been resurgent in recent weeks, having won 9 of their last 13 games to capture sixth place. That included Friday night's crucial 66-62 defeat of the Rocks that enabled them to pass their rivals in the league.

However, for the Sharks sixth is their equal lowest league finish and 16 is their lowest ever number of BBL Championship wins. Last season they finished sixth, winning 17 games.

The Rocks, meanwhile, have done the opposite, having slipped from title contenders to seventh place with an 11 game losing streak, that stretched back to March 6. They will, however, enter the playoffs with some morsel of form as they beat the Everton Tigers 81-71 on the final day behind 25 points from Scotland's international captain Gareth Murray. That might also give them a psychological edge as it is the Tigers that they will face in the playoffs on Friday night.

Elsewhere during the week, the Tigers won the North West derby as they beat the BiG Storage Cheshire Jets by 103-97 on Friday. The Jets recovered to post their second highest points total and second largest winning margin of the season as they beat the Worthing Thunder 122-83 on Sunday.

Also on Friday, the Eagles beat the bottom-place PAWS London Capital 77-64 and the Raiders beat the Marshall MK Lions 76-74 to ensure that the Lions, playoff finalists last year, would not make the post-season this time around.

THE PLAY-OFF PICTURE

Wednesday 22nd April @ 7.30pm John Sandford Centre
Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders (3rd) v Sheffield Sharks (6th)

Friday 24th April @ 7.30pm Newcastle Arena
Newcastle Eagles (1st) v BiG Storage Cheshire Jets (8th)

Friday 24th April @ 7.30pm Greenbank Sports Academy
Everton Tigers (2nd) v Scottish Rocks (7th)

Sunday 26th April @ 3pm Guildford Spectrum
Guildford Heat (4th) v Airwaves Plymouth Raiders (5th)

NORTHUMBRIA FINALLY GET THE BETTER OF LEEDS

FINAL BBL PLAY-OFF PLACE STILL UNDECIDED