Fully fit Rocks prove too much for Eagles

An outstanding all-round display from the men in blue gave the Glasgow Rocks an unlikely, but richly deserved, 85-77 victory at an electric Kelvin Hall against their bitter rivals from the north-east of England on Sunday evening and with it sent a message to the rest of the British Basketball League.

With the return of captain and lynchpin E.J. Harrison, coach Davis must have felt like a kid in a candy store, as his entire roster was available to him, something that we all know has been a rarity this season. His team certainly didn’t disappoint, showing the sort of performance that they are capable of producing when firing on all cylinders.

It was an emotional game for the veteran Rocks guard, playing for the first time since the death of his father, but he led his troops with the professionalism, skill and class that we have all come to expect from the former UConn Huskie every time he takes the court and he ultimately finished with 14 points, six rebounds and five assists.

But it was teammate DeAundrae Cranston who really stole the show with a season high 25 points on an incredible 11-of-12 shooting, with his only miss coming from behind the arc. Although the big centre was quick to point out the importance of having E.J. back in the line-up, describing the 35 year old as ‘the floor general…with him we have a real good chance of winning.’ Cranston was coming off a double-double in last week’s defeat against Plymouth and has been frustratingly inconsistent at time this season, but coach Davis was quick to challenge the centre to reproduce performances like this one on a more regular basis saying that ‘I’m glad he played that way against Newcastle, but at the same time…it’s so frustrating cos the potential that this guy has…nobody can really stop him,’ before stating that he was looking for DeAundrae to ‘carry us at times during the course of the game.’

The Rocks got off to an electric start, forcing Newcastle to call a timeout within the first three minutes of the game, as the home side took a 12-2 lead playing an up tempo offensive style, spreading the ball and utilising Cranston’s size in the paint. The Eagles though, led by their guard combo of Paul Gause and Joe Chapman, clawed away at the Rocks lead and eventually gave Newcastle the lead with 2.30 left in the first quarter on a monster three pointer from Gause.

A pulsating first quarter ended on a steal and breakaway lay-up from Mychal Green to give the Rocks a 28-24 lead. Remarkably, the Eagles had shot 59% in the first quarter and found themselves trailing by four.

With both sides playing physical, all out effort basketball, it was perhaps no surprise that it was at times a scrappy, stop-start affair, but I’m sure the Rocks players and fans don’t care too much about that.

The teams traded baskets to start the second quarter, but the Rocks seemed to fight for each other more than their opponents, with their intensity showing on the rebound column, where Glasgow out-rebounding the Eagles 49-33. A 7-0 run midway through the second stanza, highlighted by a neat pass at the basket from Canadian forward Andrew Wedemire to Davis for a two pointer, gave the home side a double-digit lead, but having thrown away leads on many an occasion to the Eagles, this one was by no means done.

In truth, the Eagles seemed somewhat off-key and suffered poor displays from the usually consistent duo of Charles Smith and Andrew Thompson, who shot a combined 3-for-15, while Andrew Bridge managed just one shot in over 24 minutes of game time. While it is obviously no fluke that the Eagles have swept aside all that has been in their path this season, this performance serves as a reminder as to what can happen when a key player or two have poor games. The fact that Gause and Chapman accounted for 57% of their shots, and 61% of their points, shows that even the lofty Eagles cannot rely on just one or two players to win matches in the BBL.

With the Rocks having had a tendency to throw games away this year with a bad quarter, it would be fair to say that few inside the Kelvin Hall felt that their side were home and dry and when the Eagles went on a 5-0 run midway through the fourth quarter to reduce the deficit to just four points with 4.22 left, Rocks fans could be forgiven for feeling slightly nervous.

The nerves certainly didn’t show on the court, however, as Harrison and Cranston calmly notched crucial baskets to put the Rocks up 78-71 with 1.09 remaining. Free-throws were traded for the rest of the tie, as the Eagles looked to extend the game for as long as possible, but it was ultimately an exercise in futility as the Rocks held on to clinch a morale-boosting victory.

Both Coach Davis and star man Cranston were keen to point out the importance of the victory as they look to build momentum heading into the play-offs, with the big centre commenting that ‘our confidence will be very high’ with Coach stating that ‘we want to make sure we’re going into the play-offs on a high and playing at a good level of basketball.’

The Rocks certainly showed what they are capable of producing when they have the entire roster fit and healthy. One can’t help but wonder just how the season would have gone if everyone were fully fit for the entirety of the campaign, but they certainly sent out a big statement to the rest of the league that come play-off time, the Rocks will be rocking.