Eagles make light work in disposing of Mersey
Newcastle Eagles swooped in early in a 57-100 victory to delivery enough damage to Mersey Tigers in the first quarter of the BBL Championship clash at Knowsley Leisure and Culture Park, to draw them level on points with Leicester Riders at the top of the table.
In their previous encounter just over a month ago, the North East side demolished Mersey at Sport Central, 121-58, and with Mersey’s winless run so far, it was no wonder the Merseysiders were again facing all the odds, and who could possibly be blamed for thinking otherwise.
Coming in to the final stages of the season, and with the battle at the top ever intensifying, Newcastle were in need of a display that solidified them as a group.
In the first quarter, the visitors were able to give their dedicated following a stunning all round display that ultimately killed off any real hope of Mersey staying in touch of them.
Two runs of nine points and one of 11 helped to finish off the stanza at 10-35, and showed impeccably why Newcastle are not willing to be counted out of the title race. It also showed how far Mersey have to go if there are to ever think about winning silverware again.
The travelling support were in superb voice throughout the contest, in a similar fashion to how their team were playing, pushing the gap even further out of reach from the Tigers.
It had seemed Eagles, who went into the half-time break 21-56 ahead, were looking to fine tune their work on court from more of a defensive point of view, and if that was the task in hand for Fab Flournoy and his men; it certainly was the right night to do so.
The proverbial foot was taken off the gas during the second half by Eagles with good rotation including a good set of minutes for Eddie Matthew (as well as eight points and a rebound to boot), whilst Tony Walsh’s players still, despite this incredible run now of 27 consecutive losses in a row during this 2012-13 season, were not giving up without a fight, and, on the face of the statistics at least, were able to keep the scores per quarter to a somewhat respectable level.
The deficit was not able to hit the magic 50 marker, but at 48 points, the overwhelming feeling was that it was only a matter of time. However, that never came and Mersey were able to finish the game out somewhat the stronger, which may have concerned Flournoy that no matter who the team, they need to play for a whole forty minutes, whoever it may be on the court at the time.
Starting fives
Mersey Tigers – Hulsen, Bigley, Hudson, Lockett and Schall
Newcastle Eagles – Maddox, Smith, Chapman, Martin and Defoe
Play of the game
The machine and workings of Charles Smith and Joe Chapman. What a combination. One penetrating, the other outside the arc, or close to it, waiting. Both worked that play to perfection in the first quarter giving Eagles the solid foundation to work on other areas of play in a competitive situation.
Game MVP
Joe Chapman
Yet another game I have attended where the unit is hard to break up and select an indivdual, but Joe Chapman found his aim again, and his statline proves everything you need to know. Dominant. (Tigers-Eagles statcast)
