The Great Escape
BBL Championship – Saturday 21st January 2012
Durham Wildcats 94 Newcastle Eagles 101
Newcastle Eagles made the short trip down the A1 to Newton Aycliffe Leisure Centre for the second time this season hoping to maintain their unbeaten record in 2012 and keep ahead of the chasing pack in the BBL Championship race.
With Ross Wilson and Lamar Morrison on Team Northumbria duties, Eagles suited up just eight men on the night with Wildcats boasting their usual deep 12-man rotation. A case of quality over quantity? That was the script anyway.
Backed by a large, vocal, travelling support Eagles started brightly enough leading for much of the quarter and peaking at 12-6 on the back of seven Andrew Thomson points. Despite ending the period 25-22 to the good, the early warning signs were there as complacency began to creep into the visitor’s game. The Wildcats were clearly determined not to be outdone by the Eagles shooting stars with Elderkin and Capocci both pulling out big triples over a sleepy Eagles defense.
Edginess crept into the visiting hordes as the Eagles form of recent weeks evaporated in the wake of a spirited second quarter from the Wildcats. Well coached by Dave Elderkin, they were punching well above their weight against their more illustrious opponents and raced into a lead with great work from all of their main men – Capocci, Bucci, Elderkin and Flaherty. The visitors held onto their coattails but we had a 47-45 Wildcats lead at the break. Time to rip up that script? Possibly. Time for the Eagles to receive the Flournoy hairdryer treatment? Undoubtedly.
Whatever Fab said to his troops at half time clearly didn’t work. Where the Eagles had looked a little off pace in the first half, they appeared positively lack lustre in the third period. A defensive horror show ensued as they appeared unable to pull down a board allowing the Wildcats to streak to a game high ten point lead at 70-60 with 2.46 remaining in the stanza. At this stage an upset appeared a real possibility with the disjointed Eagles failing to keep pace with a fired up Durham side.
Eagles assistant coach, Dave Forrester, called a time out and the Eagles clawed back the deficit to a more manageable five points as the 3rd quarter ended 75-70 Wildcats.
Unfortunately for the Wildcats, Eagles hit the ground running in the fourth, outscoring the home side 17-7 in the first five minutes and from then on there was only one winner. Joe Chapman stepped up with 14 points in the quarter including some ice cold free throw shooting, draining all three after he was fouled shooting beyond the line.
The final score 101-94 flattered the visitors but the momentum swung so far in their favour during that final quarter that the winning margin could have been even greater. Charles Smith and Joe Chapman led the Eagles with 26 points a piece but they were pipped by the impressive Mike Capocci with 27 points for the Wildcats.
The fightback from the League leaders could well be an indication that this is to be their year. Newcastle are still unbeaten on the road in this season’s BBL Championship and with news filtering through from Leicester of an MK Lions victory, what looked like it could end up as a disastrous night for the Eagles suddenly turned into one of relief and celebration.
Make no mistake about it though, the Newcastle Eagles played their ‘Get out of Jail Free’ card tonight and snuck out of Newton Aycliffe with two points stuffed firmly in their kit bags. There’s one more trip to make to Newton Aycliffe this season and you can bet they’ll be better prepared next time. Something tells me Fab’s video room will be a busy place this week.
