BBL Weekly Round Up

The beginning of the week saw the BBL Championship League race come ever closer to the finish line when Newcastle Eagles secured a 102-87 away victory over the Worcester Wolves on Tuesday night.

A 40-point haul from Charles Smith was the standout scoring statistic from a game in which the Eagles took control from the start after opening with a 21-5 run.

The Wolves tried valiantly to get themselves back into the contest, but the Eagles proved too strong as they continued to stretch their advantage and enjoyed their biggest lead of the game at 26 points with the score at 94-68 midway through the final period.

The Sheffield Sharks were made to work much harder by the Glasgow Rocks as they prevailed 62-52 in a low-scoring affair.

The Rocks led 40-37 going into the final quarter, but the Sharks picked up their intensity as a BJ Holmes three-pointer sparked a 12-1 response to give the home side the lead at 54-49 with 1:44 remaining in the game.

The Rocks got back to within two points almost immediately, but the Sharks finished the contest with an 8-0 burst to pick up the all-important victory.

Holmes played a key role with 20 points for Sheffield, while Donald Robinson enjoyed a 14 point personal tally to lead Glasgow in scoring.

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The race for third and fourth place hotted up on Friday night with the Glasgow Rocks easing to a 98-70 home victory over Surrey Heat.

It was the Rocks’ first win in three, and the first defeat in four for the Heat.

Former Heat point guard EJ Harrison led the scoring with 24 points for the Rocks, while Gareth Murray added 23 and 10 rebounds.

Plymouth Riders also remain on 38 points after going down 89-69 to the Worcester Wolves, who are now just two points behind them on 36 points.

After dominating the first half, the Wolves won the game from beyond the arc in the fourth quarter as Alex Owumi led the scoring with 24 points and 10 rebounds, and Sherrad Prezzie-Blue scored 14 and dished out six assists.

Plymouth, Glasgow and Worcester all have three matches remaining in the regular season, while Surrey have just two games left as they bid to seal a top-four finish and home court advantage in the play-offs.

Meanwhile, the Mersey Tigers are still winless after Manchester Giants handed them their 30th straight defeat of the campaign with a 93-67 win.

The Giants have now won two of their last three and must win all of their remaining games to make the post-season.

James Jones inspired this victory with 24 points, supported by 19 and 12 rebounds from Ben Eaves.

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Leicester Riders secured their first-ever BBL Championship regular-season title on Saturday after recording a 93-70 win over Durham Wildcats.

A 15th successive win ensured they cannot be toppled from top spot with nearest challengers Newcastle Eagles eight points adrift in second.

The Riders were on top from start to finish, Anthony Rowe leading the way with 15 points while five of his team-mates also got into double figures.

The Wildcats’ Andrew Keister was top-scorer in the game with 16 but his side finished a long way back.

“It has been a long time coming, but my hat is off to this Riders team. They have been just brilliant. They really deserve this Championship,” Riders coach Rob Paternostro told the BBL’s official website.

Elsewhere, Plymouth Raiders squandered the chance to go two points clear of Glasgow Rocks in third as they went down to a 78-72 home defeat by Sheffield Sharks.

Matt Schneck led all scorers with 21 points but it was not sufficient for the Raiders who failed to build on a four-point lead at the halfway point.