Friday Night BBL Highlights
Four games last night all having repercussions all through the BBL Championship as the pressure builds towards the play-offs.
Newcastle Eagles survived a late scare against local rivals, Durham Wildcats, as Dave Elderkin’s side came back from a double digit deficit on a number of occasions, notably right at the end of the final quarter, but just missed out on causing an upset as Fab Flournoy’s men held firm as Joe Chapman held his nerve on the free throw line to shoot and win the game overall 96-92.
This keeps pressure on both sides at either end of the table, with Newcastle’s faint hopes of retaining the title still alive, but they must remain hopeful that Leicester can drop points. Durham could in fact be the side that Leicester claim the Championship against next weekend, dependent of Eagles’ results. However, their own time is running out for the play-offs as they next face Surrey Heat.
Heat bounced back in glorious style last night at Surrey Sports Park, as Chavis Holmes was brought back into the line-up in a remarkable recovery, as of Wednesday afternoon, Coach Raftopoulos felt it best not to risk him so soon after injury. His minutes and eventual stats were limited, but clearly having played Cheshire Phoenix only last Sunday helped in their ability to overcome the North West side, 108-84, as Travis Holmes stole the show again and helped in sending them out of the running to finish in a play-off spot.
This defeat, alongside Sheffield Sharks’ game of two halves against Worcester Wolves, where they almost blew a huge half-time lead over Paul James’ side, after a disastrous third quarter for the home side, but prevailed to win 78-73.
Check out Dave Bell’s full report on the game here.
Finally, Plymouth Raiders dominated in the second quarter over Mersey Tigers, which ultimately gave them the 93-79 victory, however a note to be had, akin to Holmes’ efforts for Heat last weekend, in that late addition to the Tigers’ roster, Nathan Schall, outscored and out-rebounded every other player on court with 29 points and 16 boards. Another impressive showing on Sunday against Newcastle could easily see him make an appearance of sorts in the BBL Team of the Week.
There’s plenty of action to come in the BBL this weekend, as Worcester will look to bounce back against the visiting Manchester Giants, and Leicester Riders can go one step closer to securing the Championship, but it will mean overcoming Glasgow Rocks who will be looking to prevent the series whitewash, and claim vital points that could help in their quest to seal third place, and even chase for second.
Don’t forget we also have our competition running to win a pair of tickets for Sunday’s BBL clash between Cheshire Phoenix and Plymouth Raiders – click here and enter NOW – closes at 10pm tonight!
