Tigers Rock in Glasgow

Raiders fight back to beat Chester Jets at the Pavilions

January 22, 2012

Mersey Tigers claimed their first road win in the league this season while the UCP Marjon Plymouth Raiders completed a weekend double in Sunday’s British Basketball League action.

The Tigers registered a 89-75 success over the Glasgow Rocks at Kelvin Hall to pick up just their third BBL Championship victory of the campaign.

The visitors had five players who finished in double digits, with Myles Hesson claiming a double-double, adding 11 rebounds to his 16 points, and Devan Bailey dishing up eight assists.

The Tigers led 47-34 at the interval and then moved well clear with 10 unanswered points at the start of the second half.

Bouncing back

Meanwhile, Plymouth continued to bounce back from their BBL Cup Final disappointment with an 81-75 win over the Chester Jets.

Having routed in-form Guildford Heat on Saturday night, Gavin Love and his players returned to the Pavilions 24 hours later to make it two victories in as many days.

However they had to fight back from an 11-point deficit in the third quarter, Jeremy Bell leading the comeback with 27 points against his old team.

Adam Brown poured in 25 points and Matt Schneck landed a double-double of 21 points and 16 rebounds, though their efforts weren’t enough to prevent the Jets slipping to a defeat on their travels.

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Eagles soar at top

Newcastle claim sixth straight win

January 22, 2012

Newcastle Eagles and Worcester Wolves maintained the pace at the top of the BBL Championship table with victories in their respective games on Saturday.

The Eagles dug themselves out of a hole to beat local rivals the Durham Wildcats 94-101, taking their winning streak to six games and extending the Widcats’ string of consecutive defeats to 13.

Durham’s poor form wasn’t evident on the night though and the Eagles were forced to reiy on a fourth quarter surge from Joe Chapman to win the game.

Chapman together with and Charles Smith led Newcastle’s scoring with 26 points each, while Mike Capocci led all scorers with 27 for the hosts.

Worcester meanwhile remain hot on the heels of leaders Newcastle following their 97-87 home win against Cheshire Jets.

Sherrad Prezzie-Blue led the way with a double-double of 24 points and 10 assists for the Wolves, and Tommy Freeman hit five three-pointers on his way to 19 points while Matt Schneck led the Jets with 24 points.

The game remained tight through the opening exchanges but by the end of the first quarter the Wolves led 24-16 before surging to 50-35 at the break.

The Wolves kept their rivals at arm’s length for the remainder of the game despite a strong finish by the Jets who reduced the deficit with three scores in the final minute.

MK Lions denied Leicester Riders one of the most memorable comebacks in their history to claim a narrow 77-75 victory in the East Midlands.

The Lions have a first half rout to thank for their victory after an early 16-0 surge helped push the visitors into a 29-10 lead after 20 minutes.

The Riders recovered to 35-45 at the half and continued to chip away after the break to get back to within one possession at 51-53 and set up a nail-biting finale.

Demarius Bolds led the scoring for the victors with 19 points to go with 6 rebounds and 5 steals, while Daniel Northern had a massive double-double of 16 points and 18 rebounds. Ayron Hardy led the hosts, and all scorers, with 20 points.

Success

Plymouth Raiders bounced back from last weekend’s BBL Cup Final defeat to claiming their sixth straight league victory with a 98-68 home success over Guildford Heat.

The first period was a tight affair with the hosts in front 47-41 by the half after a period in which the Heat committed ten fouls and the Raiders scored nine free-throws.

But the home side pulled away after the break and, after a 19-6 spell early in the fourth, finished things off in style to hand Guilford their first defeat of 2012.

Jeremy Bell led the scoring with 27 points, supported by a double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds for Paul Williams. Mike Martin scored 20 points for the Heat.

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Sharks can’t stop Eagles

Riders too strong for Tigers thanks to Wierzbicki’s 20 points

January 21, 2012

The Newcastle Eagles maintained their advantage at the top of the BBL championship with victory over One Health Sharks Sheffield at Sport Central.

The Eagles led from tip-off through to the final buzzer, Paul Gause top-scoring with 18 points in the comfortable 86-67 triumph.

A 10-3 run at the end of the second quarter gave Newcastle, who lifted the BBL Cup at the expense of the UCP Marjon Plymouth Raiders last weekend, a 47-30 lead at the opening half.

The Sharks did get back to within 12 points on a basket from Nate Reinking, who finished up with 18 points for the visitors, but Newcastle kept them at arms length through to the finish.

In the other game to take place on Friday night, the Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Ridersconsolidated themselves in third place in the table with a 85-66 win over the Mersey Tigers.

Bradd Wierzbicki poured in 20 points for the Riders while Cameron Rundles bagged 12 points in the third quarter to help the Riders open up a 19-point lead heading into the final stanza.

Some smart shooting by David Aliu trimmed the deficit to 14 at 64-50 in the final period but eight points from Wierzbicki helped the Riders to victory.