BBL: Final line-up confirmed

Newcastle Eagles and Leicester Riders will meet in the BBL Championship play-off final after overturning first-leg deficits in their respect semi-finals.

The Eagles, who are defending champions, trailed Cheshire Jets 99-89 after the opening game, but they recorded a 79-64 win to wrap up the tie 168-163 on aggregate.

Leicester overturned their 77-76 deficit in style by beating Glasgow Rocks 97-72 to claim a comfortable 173-149 aggregate win.

BBL Championship play-off semi-final, second leg
Cheshire Jets 64 (12,40,52) (Brown 19, Cole 18, Williams 11)
Newcastle Eagles 79 (20,36,56) (Smith 26, Chapman 15, Thomson 13)
(Eagles win 168-163 on aggregate)

A sublime fourth quarter from the Newcastle Eagles helped them overturn a 10-point deficit from the first leg and claim a 79-64 victory over the Cheshire Jets.

The result meant that the Eagles secured a 168-163 aggregate victory across the two legs and will face the Leicester Riders at the NIA Birmingham next Saturday in their quest for a clean sweep of this season’s silverware.

The Eagles started the game strongly and opened up an early 13-point lead before Jets hit back to cut the deficit to 20-12 after the opening 10 minutes.

In the second period, both teams traded baskets through the early goings of the quarter, but the Jets finished the half strongly to head into the locker rooms leading 40-36.

The Jets maintained their slender advantage for the majority of the third quarter, before eight unanswered points saw the Eagles move into a 56-52 lead.

Newcastle turned up the heat in the final stanza, with Joe Chapman and Bill Cole helped take the game – and ultimately the semi-final – away from the Jets.

Charles Smith led all scorers in the game with 26 points personal for the Eagles, while Adam Brown led the scoring for the Jets with 19 points personal.

BBL Championship play-off semi-final, second leg
Leicester Riders 97 (19,44,77) (Rundles 36, Sullivan 17, Wierzbicki 14)
Glasgow Rocks 72 (13,36,56) (Green 21, Harrison 16, Cranston/Murray 13)
(Riders win 173-149 on aggregate)

The Leicester Riders booked their place in the final as they overcame a first-leg deficit to defeat the Glasgow Rocks 97-70.

The result meant that the Riders secured a 173-149 aggregate score over the two legs.

With the Rocks leading by a point heading into the second leg, both sides traded baskets through the early exchanges but the home side pulled away as the quarter drew to a close to lead 19-13.

The Riders extended their advantage to 44-36 by the half-time interval, with Cameron Rundles and Bradd Wierzbicki impressing.

The Rocks refused to go down without a fight, though, but once again Rundles came to the fore to take the game away from them in the final two quarters.

Rundles finished with a personal haul of 36 points to lead all scorers, while Green was the top scorer for the Rocks with 21.