Friday night in the BBL Championship saw one blowout and three games go right down to the wire amidst much movement in the league standings.

The Newcastle Eagles remain top, while the Glasgow Rocks jump to second, knocking the Worcester Wolves down to fourth as the Mersey Tigers join the Durham Wildcats in eighth.

The One Health Sharks Sheffield used an amazing fourth quarter comeback, and Nate Reinking buzzer-beater, to inflict the first defeat of the season on the Worcester Wolves, beating them 76-75 at the English Institute of Sport. Succumbing to that late defeat means the Wolves lose pace with the Newcastle Eagles at the top of the table.

 It was Reinking who led all scorers with 25 points, supported by 16 points from Justin Dobbins. Richie Gordon led the Wolves with 23 points.

 The Wolves led for the majority of the first three quarters after the opening the game with a 7-12 lead in the first five minutes. That reached 27-36 midway through the second quarter and double-digits by the half time break at 32-42. Gordon had already scored 16 of his points with Kaslauskas on 10.

 The Wolves were even more convincing in the third quarter, taking the lead out to with the lead peaking at 44-58, before finishing at 47-60 heading into the final period. But at that point it all changed. The Sharks came back with a 14 point fourth quarter swing, thanks in large part to a 9-0 burst midway through that saw them tie the game at 66. A number of lead changes and ties ensued before the Sharks took the lead by one, at 74-73, with 45 seconds remaining. The Wolves got back in front with 7 seconds on the clock before Great Britain player Reinking netted the buzzer-beating winner, moving the Sharks up to sixth in the process.

The Eagles continue to set the pace in the league with a 6-0 record after a 90-67 destruction of the UCP Marjon Plymouth Raiders at Sport Central. Darius Defoe led the Eagles with 22 points and 8 rebounds, while Andrew Thomson had a double-double of 13 points and 10 boards. Lehmon Colbert led the Raiders with 19 on a night when league MVP Jeremy Bell shot just 23% from the field on his way to 11 points.

 The damage was done from the very outset as the Eagles opened the game leading 10-4 after five minutes behind 6 points from Defoe. The Eagles scored 7 more points inside the final two minutes, sparked by Thomson's three-pointer, to take a commanding 24-8 lead after the first period, and they never looked back.

 The lead grew steadily in the second stanza, with Charles Smith's three-pointer making it 35-16 and it reached 22 as a 7-2 burst, capped by a Joe Chapman three-pointer, made the score 42-40. The hosts maintained a margin above twenty through to the half, leading 49-28. And the deficit was rarely within 20 in the second half, peaking at the final score margin of 23.

 The Glasgow Rocks moved up to second in the BBL Championship, with five wins in their last six games, as they beat the Prestige Homes MK Lions 92-95, condemning their opponents to their first home defeat of the season in front of a sell-out crowd at the MK Lions Arena.

Mychal Green led all scorers with 29 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists for the victors, while Danny Huffor scored 18. The Lions were led by Stefan Gill's 19 points.
 
After a tight first half, the Lions seemed to have the edge when after the break Demarius Bolds hit a three-pointer before they established a 51-45 lead on a Nuno Pedroso triple. That became 55-45 on another Bolds basket, in what had become a 16-4 burst. The Rocks came back with 5 points from Danny Huffor but were halted by another Bolds three-pointer as the Lions looked good at 71-63 heading into the fourth.

 But the Rocks came back immediately through two quick three-pointers from Green, helping the score to 76-73, and it was 83-81 when Demarius Bolds fouled out with five minutes remaining. The Lions resolutely held on to their lead until the final minute of the game, with Gill's basket making it 92-89. But a startling finish from the Rocks saw them score six points in the last minute, Green making the first basket and then setting up Huffor to put them in front with 44 seconds to play. Gill missed for the Lions before Green's free-throws made the score 92-95,Carl  Josey missing the three-pointer to tie the game at the end.

 In the North West, the Tigers saw off a late fight back from the Durham Wildcats to beat them 85-81 and draw level with them in the BBL Championship standings. David Aliu, with 19 points and 12 rebounds, and Kris Douse, with 18 points, led the Tigers; while Paul Elderkin led all scorers with 24 points for the visiting Wildcats.

 The Tigers led for much of the game, and seemed to have it sealed as they took a 65-54 lead into the fourth quarter after a 14-4 run. But the Wildcats had a fast start to the fourth period with a 10-2 burst, behind 6 points from Flaherty, and soon took the lead themselves at 70-71. A number of lead changes ensued but they still led 78-79 inside the final minute. But the Tigers scored the next 5 points, Otten's basket with 38 seconds remaining putting them up for good before Aliu and James Griffiths saw the game out from the free-throw line.

BBL Championship
One Health Sharks Sheffield 94 (24,49,71) (Dobbins 34, Tuck 18, Langhurst 15)
Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders 99 (25,51,72) (Rundles 25, Wierzbicki 23, Sullivan 21)

Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders remained undefeated in the BBL Championship as they picked up a 94-99 victory over the One Health Sharks Sheffield in front of the Sky TV cameras at the EIS, Sheffield on Friday night.

A fast start to the game for the Sharks set the tone for the remainder of the contest with both teams enjoying runs in the first quarter as the Riders bounced back from an early 6-0 deficit to move 13-17 ahead off the back of a 12-3 tear of their own.

Both sides traded baskets for the remainder of the quarter as the visitors held onto a slender one point advantage at 24-25 at the end of the first period.

The Riders started the second quarter strongly thanks to a 7-2 run to take the score out to 26-32, but the Sharks remained in contact with their opponents and a 9-0 burst towards the end of the first half gave them the lead at 49-46. A three pointer from Bradd Wierzbicki and an Andrew Sullivan basket saw the Riders heading into the locker rooms leading 49-51 at the half.

In the second half the home side tried to get themselves back into the contest and five points from Nate Reinking sparked a 9-2 burst to give them the lead at 66-61, but the Riders ended the quarter the stronger with a 8-0 tear to lead 74-76 heading into the final stanza.

In the final period the Sharks once again started strongly and three-pointers from Jimmy Langhurst, Olu Babalola and Mike Tuck gave them an 83-80 lead, but the Riders broke the game open with a 11-3 burst to take the score out to 86-91 with 2:39 remaining.

A Babalola basket closed the gap to a single point at 90-91, but a Cameron Rundles three-pointer sparked a 7-2 reposte for the Riders to take the score out to 92-98 and there was no way back for the Sharks as time ran out.

Rundles led the Riders with a team-high 25 points, but it was MVP Justin Dobbins who led all scorers in the contest as he netted 34 points for the Sharks in the defeat.

Tony Garbelotto has hailed Drew Sullivan as the greatest player to have played in the BBL ahead of his teams' match-up with the Great Britain captain tomorrow night.

Having shared a long association with the player ever since he first coached him as a junior in the capital and right up until last season when he helped Tigers secure a wonderful treble, the play-caller is in no doubt as to the degree of influence Sullivan has on any team,

"I have a special relationship with Drew that goes back to when he started playing as a young player." explained Garbelotto.

"He is, in my opinion, the greatest winner and player to have ever played in the BBL.

"Any team who has him on their roster should win silverware and there is really nothing else more to say," added the coach.

With the in-form Riders already in the last four of the BBL Cup and unbeaten in the BBL Championship, trophies could well be on the menu for Rob Paternostro and his team this season. However, Garbelotto will certainly be out to dent their hopes during his visit to the John Sandford Sports Centre in what looks a mouth-watering clash.

Before Garbelotto gets to experiences a reunion with Sullivan, both teams face very difficult fixtures tonight against Worcester Wolves and One Health Sharks Sheffield respectively.

Tigers host a Wolves team who are yet to taste defeat in the BBL Championship while Garbelotto will be desperate to emerge victorious and rack up a first league win of the season.

Meanwhile Riders' recent run of excellent results could easily be brought to a shuddering halt this evening if they aren't focused when they head to Sheffield to face a Sharks team seriously hurting from something of a losing streak of late.

Sharks have lost twice against the Eagles and were soundly beaten by Rocks. Consequently the very notion of slumping to a 1-4 start in the BBL Championship is almost unthinkable for the hosts. This possibility certainly underlines the importance of this game for Atiba Lyons and his players who would find it a hugely difficult task to finish as BBL Champions if they were to lose four of their first five games.

There will be real a sense of familiarity tomorrow evening when Worcester Wolves host UCP Marjon Plymouth Raiders and Durham Wildcats entertain Glasgow Rocks. Both games are repeats of BBL Trophy fixtures from earlier in the season with each of the home sides looking to avenge disappointing losses.

Wildcats can certainly feel confident ahead of their game with Rocks since they had the confidence boost of winning their first ever game in the BBL last time they stepped out at Newton Aycliffe. Coach Elderkin will also gain some confidence from almost causing an upset at Worcester last weekend when they were narrowly beaten.

Both UCP Marjon Plymouth Raiders and Worcester Wolves won their respective road games against each other and this looks set to be a titanic tussle as Paul James tries to ensure his team gain revenge for Raiders eliminating them from the Trophy.

For any team harbouring ambitions of being crowned BBL Champions this season, it looks like pacesetters Newcastle Eagles will be the team to beat. They are in action during the final game of the weekend when Cheshire Jets will look to shatter their flawless record which has seen them chalk up four wins so far.

Certainly if they want to avoid a first loss in the league, the Eagles will have to improve when they hit the floor at Northgate since they were wholly unconvincing and very fortunate to squeeze past Rocks in their BBL Cup quarter-final against Rocks in their last outing.

In an action-packed Sunday, there were impressive victories for the Prestige Homes MK Lions, Glasgow Rocks and Worcester Wolves in the BBL Trophy, while the One Health Sharks Sheffield and Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders got their BBL Championship campaigns off to winning starts.

In the BBL Trophy, the MK Lions secured a highly impressive 113-72 victory over the BA London Leopards at the MK Basketball Centre on Sunday evening with Demarius Bolds the star performer for the victors as he bagged himself a team-high 36 points. The game was one way traffic for the most part with the Lions opening up an early 12-3 lead before a 10-0 burst to start the second quarter ended any real hope of the Leopards causing an upset.

The Glasgow Rocks ended their BBL Trophy campaign for this season with a 76-70 victory over the Newcastle Eagles at Kelvin Hall, but the result was not enough to prevent the Eagles progressing to the semi-final stages of the competition. EJ Harrison led all scorers in the contest with 22 points for the Rocks in a hard-fought contest throughout which saw the home side only start to open up the gap between the two sides in the closing moments of the contest.

In the final Trophy game of the evening, the Worcester Wolves kept alive their hopes of progressing to the latter stages thanks to an impressive 85-96 victory over the UCP Marjon Plymouth Raiders at the Plymouth Pavilions on Sunday afternoon. The Wolves had Richie Gordon to thank in no small part for the victory as his 22 points for the visitors helped them pull away from their hosts in the second and third quarters outscoring the Raiders 31-53 in the process.

There were also two games in the BBL Championship which saw the Sharks and Riders open their accounts in the League defeating the Guildford Heat and Cheshire Jets respectively.

Nate Reinking's 35 points for the Sharks helped them to a 75-86 victory over the Heat at the Surrey Sports Park where a big 17-3 burst in the second quarter took the score out to 21-36 and the Sharks never looked back despite some resilience from the Heat to try and get themselves right back into the contest but to no avail.

In the final game of the night, the Riders picked up a big 59-80 victory over the Jets at the Northgate Arena on Sunday evening. 19 points from Bradd Wierzbicki gave the visitors the impetus to go on and secure the all-important victory and put themselves on top of the table with the Sharks and Eagles after the first weekend of Championship action.