In a busy weekend for the British Basketball League, four championship matches and the first five cup games were completed between Friday and Sunday.
Friday night featured Newcastle Eagles hosting the Sheffield Sharks in the championship and Manchester Giants making the short trip to Leeds Force in the first round of the BBL Cup.
The Eagles produced a strong fourth quarter to beat the Sharks 95-84, with Darius Defoe scoring 30 points in the match. Defoe shot 15/17 on the night and is now on 24/32 (82%) for the season so far.
Meanwhile in Leeds, the Force progressed to the second round of the cup with an 80-69 win against the Giants. The Force made history as they recorded their first win in the BBL, while the Giants have failed at the first hurdle for the third year running. James McCann led the scoring with 21 points in the match.
Saturday saw four more teams looking to get their cup campaign off to a good start, including the current holders Leicester Riders. The Riders welcomed Surrey United to Loughborough, where 28 points from Tyler Bernardini led them to 98-80 win.
The Bristol Flyers came out on top in a dramatic encounter with their South-West rivals Plymouth University Raiders. It took two extra periods to separate the two teams in the first overtime game of the season, with the Flyers taking it 93-92. Bristol’s Doug Herring was the leading match scorer with 26 points.
After the game, Flyers captain Greg Streete said: “It was great to pick up the win and credit to our mental toughness. We did great things to stay in the game, but know we can’t be complacent and have to keep pushing.”
The final five games of the weekend were played out on Sunday, with two cup matches and 3 championship games.
London Lions made the long trip to face the Glasgow Rocks in the first round of the cup. The Rocks announced the signing of Team GB co-captain Kieron Achara this weekend. Achara has spent time playing in top professional leagues in Italy, Spain, Greece and Bulgaria, but has decided the time is right to return to Scotland.
He said: “I am very excited about coming back to Scotland. I feel it’s definitely the right time. My family are all here, my fiancée and new baby girl are here, I just felt like it was the right thing to do.”
The Rocks and Achara both enjoyed success as the game finished 62-56 to Glasgow, with Achara leading the points scoring with 16 points. The Leicester Riders await the Rocks in the second round.
Cheshire Phoenix were the final winners in the weekends cup first round matches, with debutant Taylor King leading them to a convincing 88-65 win over the Durham Wildcats.
King scored 24 points in the game and the Phoenix scored 36 points in an aggressive final quarter. 12 points each for Odiba Attah and Panos Mayindombe wasn’t enough to prevent the Wildcats from exiting the competition.
Leicester Riders followed up their convincing win over Surrey with a 99-91 win at the Plymouth University Raiders. A late flourish from the Riders saw them come from behind to secure the victory and continue their perfect start to the season.
In their second win of the weekend, the Bristol Flyers completed an 82-73 win away to the Manchester Giants. In stark contrast, the Giants finished the weekend 0-2 despite Bankevics’ 17 points. Doug Herring’s 23 points against the Giants meant he finished the game leading scorer for the second time in as many days.
The weekend ends with Leicester Riders and London Lions sat at the top of the league table, as they are both unbeaten after their first two games. While Leeds Force remain rooted to the bottom of the table with a record of 0-3.
By David Bodymore