BBL Weekend Round Up

In Friday’s only BBL Championship game, Newcastle Eagles defeated Mersey Tigers 100-57 to maintain their BBL Championship title challenge.

The win left them second in the table with 40 points, just behind the Riders who have the same number of points but also have a game in hand.

Leicester Riders booked their place at the BBL Finals despite a 68-66 second leg defeat to Worcester Wolves on Saturday night.

Trailing 82-73 after the first-leg, Wolves battled bravely at a packed-out John Sandford Sports Centre and at least left the venue with the consolation of ending Leicester’s unbeaten home run.

Alex Owumni put on a show for the visitors, bagging 29 points, while Pavol Losonsky had a double-double of 10 points and 13 rebounds for Leicester.

With the BBL Cup already in the cabinet, Riders will attempt to complete the double when they take on One Health Sharks Sheffield in the final on March 9 at Glasgow’s Emirates Stadium.

London Lions inflicted a fourth successive away defeat on One Health Sharks Sheffield and made it three wins on the spin with an 86-78 success on Sunday night.

Debutant Rod Brown was the star of the show for the Lions, producing an MVP performance which consisted of 15 points and nine assists.

Australian Adrien Sturt added 16 points and eight rebounds for the hosts, while BJ Holmes notched 15 points and 10 assists for the Sharks.

Surrey Heat snapped a five-game losing streak courtesy of an 87-78 triumph over Cheshire Pheonix.

Playing without talisman Chez Marks, the visitors had coped well during the opening exchanges, but his absence soon took its toll as the game unfolded.

Chavis Holmes registered 12 assists for Heat whilst Alif Bland and Shawn Myers both had double-doubles for the losing team.

Elsewhere on Sunday, Glasgow Rocks eased to an 88-66 victory over struggling Durham Wildcats.