Giant comeback falls short as Eagles continue to soar
Manchester Giants 82 – 91 Newcastle Eagles
Starting Fives
Manchester Giants – Stefan Gill, James Jones, David Aliu, David Watts, Morakinyo Williams
Newcastle Eagles – Damon Huffman, Charles Smith, Darius Defoe, Fabulous Flournoy, Joe Chapman
The Manchester Giants suffered their second defeat of the season as they lost 91-82 to the Newcastle Eagles at Wright Robinson Sports College on Friday evening. The 2011/12 BBL champions were led by Joe Chapman and Charles Smith who both finished with 20 points and backed-up by power forward Darius Defoe with 16.
The Giants were paced by 26 points from David Watts and 20 points from Stefan Gill. The hosts made a lively start to the game getting several good looks at the basket early on as they took an early 17-13 lead with a tip-dunk by Watts following a missed three by James Jones.
The Eagles countered with seven straight points of their own as Smith went coast-to-coast for a layup, Chapman knocked down a triple and forward Kareem Maddox found space inside for a dunk to put the visitors up by three. A jumper from the wing by Watts and a tip-in from Giants forward David Aliu put the home side back in front before a layup from Eagles point guard Anthony Martin gave the visitors a 21-20 lead going into the second period.
After such a positive opening quarter the second was a disappointing one for the Giants as they only managed to score 14 points and missed several shots from point-blank range. The Eagles on the other hand began to heat up as they knocked down five 3-pointers in the period and took advantage of the Giants misses to get out in transition. Eagle’s guards Damian Huffman and Anthony Martin had a great night distributing the ball finishing with 10 assists between them and only committing three turnovers. They kept the Giants defence on their toes all night with dribble penetration and pinpoint passes to open shooters on the perimeter.
The Eagles went on a tear over the final four minutes of the half with a 13-2 run as the Giants missed six straights shots. Jones found Aliu for a layup with 1:15 left to cut the visitors lead down to nine but Chapman made two 3-pointers; the second of them came just before the halftime buzzer to give the Eagles a 50-35 lead at the break.
The Giants cold shooting continued into the second half as they missed their first five attempts from the field and fell even further behind as the visitors scored seven unanswered points to take a 22-point lead with six minutes left in the third quarter. The home side finally got onto the scoreboard with a pair of free-throws by Aliu but Smith came down the other end and backed his man down for a layup to keep the lead at 22.
On the next possession Gill misfired on a three but the rebound was gathered by Giants forward Nathan Schall and eventually ended up in the hands of Watts who drilled a 3-pointer from the right wing for their first field goal of the half. It was a simple enough play but it was enough to kick-start the Giants into action as they began their fight-back. Schall had an excellent home-debut and provided a great presence on the boards pulling down five rebounds and scoring eight points in 15 highly productive minutes off the bench.
He scored a layup on the break before Watts knocked down another three from the top of the circle. Gill then found Schall streaking to the basket for a layup and a well timed extra pass from Watts made its way to Aliu who was wide-open for another easy finish from close range. Gill split two defenders before converting a difficult runner off the glass to complete a 14-0 Giants run to cut it to 51-59 with 2:18 left in the period
Maddox halted the Giants run with a pair from the line but the home-team came straight back with four more points as Aliu scored a step-back jumper and Watts converted a difficult alley-oop lay-in to cut the gap to six. Nevertheless the Eagles stayed calm and with their final possession of the period Chapman coolly drained a 3-pointer from the right-wing to send them into the final stanza with a 55-64 lead.
The Giants opened up the 4th with back to back scores as both Aliu and Schall made strong cuts to the basket and were found right on cue to convert from close range. The two sides then traded free-throws as Maddox and Gill both knocked down a pair. The visitors made another surge as Huffman converted a floater and Chapman nailed his fifth 3-pointer of the evening to give them a 71-61 lead with 6:22 left to play.
After a Giants time-out Gill scored with another tough drive to the basket which the visitors countered with a pair from the line by Smith. On the Giants next possession Gill found James Jones open in the corner and he nailed a 3-pointer to trim the lead down to seven but they couldn’t get a stop at the other end as Maddox followed his own miss and converted a layup. With the crowd behind them the home-side continued their push as Watts banked one in from the right side before back-to-back 3-pointers from Bailey and Watts cut the lead to just a point with 4:03 left in the game.
Eagles player coach Fabulous Flournoy scored a quick layup to give the visitors a little bit of breathing space as the game entered the final few minutes. Gill made one of two from the stripe and following a Chapman turnover; Jones missed a 3-pointer that would have given the Giants their first lead since the opening period. Smith missed from the perimeter on the Eagles next possession but Defoe was there to clean up and he scored a tip in to put the visitors back up by four. Gill misfired on a three as the hosts looked cut into the deficit but Flournoy was fouled by Bailey and made one of two before Smith snuck in to grab an offensive rebound and convert a layup to give the Eagles an 82-75 lead with just 1:39 left to play.
The battle of the boards was crucial in this one with the Eagles out-rebounding their hosts 46-33 in the game with 13 of those coming at the offensive end. The visitors closed out the game at the line as they knocked down five of eight in the final minute. The Giants will think of this one as a missed opportunity as they set the tone with their aggressive play early on; lost their way in the middle stages and nearly pulled out a win thanks to a furious come-back. They will be glad to know that they made the reigning champs work so hard to get a victory but will also think that if they hadn’t allowed them to get away in the third quarter it could have been a different story.
Play of the Game
Darius Defoe’s tip in with 2:02 left to play put the Eagles up by four after the Giants had gone on a run to cut the lead to two and James Jones had just missed a 3-pointer that would have given the Giants the lead. His bucket gave the Eagles a bit of breathing space down the stretch and the Giants didn’t get any closer.
Game MVP
Joe Chapman made big shots at the right time for the Eagles – his 3-pointer just before the halftime buzzer was a real body-blow for the home crowd and put the visitors up by 15 at the interval. He made a 3-pointer at the end of the third quarter to put them up by nine points heading into the 4th and finished his night by making three of four from the free-throw line to send the Eagles home with a win.
Top Scorers
Manchester Giants – David Watts 26, Stefan Gill 20, David Aliu 12
Newcastle Eagles – Joe Chapman / Charles Smith 20, Darius Defoe 16, Kareem Maddox 14
Next Up
Manchester Giants – Glasgow Rocks, Sunday 14 October, 17:00, Emirates Arena
Newcastle Eagles – Durham Wildcats, Friday 12 October, 19:30 Sports Central