BBL Game Day Summary: Cheshire Phoenix 65 Esh Group Eagles Newcastle 106

The Esh Group Eagles Newcastle showed Cheshire Phoenix and the rest of the BBL that they are in devastating form as the return of Paul Gause and an outstanding performance from new signing Malik Cooke saw the visitors to the Northgate Arena deservedly take home a 106-65 victory in the BBL Championship.

Out fast from the start and drilled like a well oiled machine, Friday’s relatively close win over local rivals Durham Wildcats seemed a world away from what Fab Flournoy’s men produced just 48 hours later.

Restricting Cheshire to just nine points in the first quarter, and compiling huge runs due to the most part Phoenix’s off-par shot selections; Newcastle were 25 points to the good after just ten minutes.

John Lavery’s side did seem to turn a corner in the next period, bringing the deficit down to 16 at one stage, but it could not be sustained and Eagles always kept control in their seamless ability to rotate with their strong roster.

The second half saw the experience of Cooke and Gause take hold, despite the latter having his time on court stunted reaching four fouls. It was to make little difference as they still out scored Cheshire 33-13, with a buzzer beating halfway line three from ex-Phoenix star Stuart Thomson summing up the luck the home side were facing.

A tighter final quarter may have allowed for Lavery’s side to try and work on what they had set out in training, but it will be little consolation with such a heavy defeat by 41 in their first home game of the season.

For Eagles, it was evident that a long and intense pre-season has resulted in such an emphatic performance, however coaches of both sides are well aware that the BBL Championship is only young.