Lions bear their teeth and give Eagles a fright!
BBL Championship
Friday 19th October 2012
Newcastle Eagles 89 (Chapman 19, Huffman 18, Smith 16)
London Lions 83 (Jackman 27, Ogedengbe 17, James 8)
Starting Fives
Newcastle Eagles: Defoe, Flournoy, Smith, Chapman, Huffman
London Lions: Sturt, Martin, Ogedengbe, Jackson, Pedrosa
Newcastle Eagles hung on for a hard fought win at Sport Central to continue their 100% start to the BBL campaign, but not without a few scares along the way.
Traffic problems meant a late arrival for the visitors and the delayed tip off seemed to affect both teams in what was a very scrappy start to the game. The London Lions looked much improved from the first weekend of the season when they were comfortably beaten by the Eagles at Crystal Palace. They edged a physical first quarter by a point at 21-22 with Ogedengbe and Jackman the main contributors.
This wake up call was enough to spark the home side into life and the second stanza belonged to the Eagles. Led by 11 points from bench man Anthony Martin they pulled away to a 45-36 lead at the break. The momentum changed once more in the third period as an Orlan Jackson inspired Lions outscored the BBL champions 27-14 turning the game on its head to enter the final quarter with a 63-59 lead and a real upset on the cards.
The topsy turvy nature of the game spiralled into the final period as Eagles’ captain Joe Chapman sank three rapid three point shots to give his team a 68-65 lead and seemingly place the momentum firmly in the hands of Flournoy’s side. The ebb and flow continued right to the end with only 4 points separating the sides into the last minute. The Eagles held on for a 89-83 victory to take them to 7-0 for the season but Vince McAuley’s visitors look certain to improve on their 1-4 record in the coming weeks if the continue playing to this level.
On the tough battle that the Eagles had come through, captain Joe Chapman post-game said, “Honestly, that’s the test that we need with Leicester coming. We need more competitive games. We had five guys in double figures in the scoring column with Ant Martin, in particular, having big first half points. It’s really helping us out to get everyone on board rather than the same couple of people. The closer the games are the better we perform as a team.”
Joe was impressed by the performance of Orlan Jackson but was pleased with his team’s overall defensive performance: “Sometimes we struggle against athletic wings and Jackman really got it going. You could see his confidence really getting up there and he played a spectacular game. We got our defence going in the second half and that’s when we managed to bust the game open.”
Although his side is 7-0, the Eagles are yet to face either of the other two unbeaten teams and one of them, Leicester Riders, are due up next at Sport Central: “With Leicester coming we have to step it up a bit more but we played a great game on the defensive end today and although we struggled from three point range and the free throw line we got it going defensively. Against Leicester it’s going to be a defensive battle.”
Joe’s a happy man this weekend. Not only did his side extend their unbeaten start of the season but his girlfriend has arrived in England for two months!
Play of the Game
This week’s play of the game was more of a triple play by Captain, Joe Chapman. The BBL MVP sank three quick three-point bombs to change the momentum of the game early in the final quarter. We’ve come to expect this from Joe over the last few seasons but it is always a privilege to watch him turn on this kind of shooting masterclass.
Game MVP
The Eagles may have won the game but they did so with a solid team performance. No less than five players reached double figures in the points column including an eye catching cameo from back-up point guard Anthony Martin. It was a Lions player who stood out on the night however. British wingman Orlan Jackson claimed an impressive 28-13 double double in one of the best performances by a visiting player at Sport Central for some time. The Eagles struggled to cope with Jackman throughout the night and the young guard could count himself unfortunate to end on the losing side.
Next Up
Friday 26th October Newcastle Eagles v Leicester Riders 7.30pm Sport Central, Newcastle (Sky Sports)
Sunday 28th October Cheshire Jets v London Lions 5.30pm Northgate Arena, Chester
