Prince Charles puts Rocks to the sword

Newcastle Eagles 78 Glasgow Rocks 75
BBL Cup Quarter Final Friday 11th November 2011

Newcastle Eagles edged past Glasgow Rocks in a nail biting finish at Sport Central to book their place in the last four of the BBL Cup. The two most northerly teams in the BBL enjoy what is widely regarded as the biggest rivalry in British Basketball and last night it was provided a battle that hung in the balance right until the final play of the game.

The victory would be especially sweet for Eagles Fab Flournoy. Speaking of the BBL Cup before the game, the player/coach stated “I really want this one probably more than the rest (of the other trophies) at this point in time” The competition has traditionally eluded the Eagles, with the Newcastle team lifting the Cup just once in recent years, something that Flournoy puts down to the Cup usually being played early in the season. “In the past (the Cup) starts the season off when I’m usually going through the heartaches of getting my team together and setting a platform for winning further down the line as opposed to winning early on”.

With remarkably prescience Flournoy made a prediction for his star player on the night, “Charles (Smith) will have man of the match tonight. Charles hates the Rocks!”, quickly adding that hate was maybe a strong word but the Rocks are certainly a team Charles loves to beat.

League veteran and Rock’s key man, point guard EJ Harrison was an injury miss for the Rocks and his absence together with Eagles’ missing playmaker Paul Gause made for a scrappy start to the game with neither side able to get anything going in the early minutes.

The game started with Andrew Thomson sinking a 3-point effort for the home side, but the Eagles fans had to wait another 5 minutes before their team scored again. The visitors we’re hardly any better at this stage and the Rocks limped to a slender 16-15 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The second period did little to stifle the frustration of the home fans, with the Eagles still struggling to get their offense together. Mychal Green picked up the baton left by EJ Harrison and preceded to take control of a game that was crying out for just that. Looking the sole class act in that first half, he lifted the Rocks to a 35-30 lead at the half.

The malaise affecting the Newcastle Eagles stretched well into the third stanza with the home team’s shot selection and execution letting them down time and time again. The visitors extended their lead to 53-40 with under 3 minutes to go in the penultimate period leaving a misfiring Eagles with a mountain to climb. Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Aforementioned, Rocks’ nemesis Charles Smith awoke from his first half cocoon and flew into an offensive frenzy with 14 third period points including four devastating three point volleys. His heroics kept the Eagles hanging onto the Rocks’ coattails with the quarter ending Eagles 55 Rocks 60.

Aided by steady contributions from the ever-reliable Andrew Thomson and fellow shooter Joe Chapman, the Eagles grew in confidence. The revival was helped by indiscipline in the Rocks camp as fouls mounted and by the time centre DeAundre Cranston fouled out early in the final period the home side had reversed the deficit to a 65-60 lead. A further two points from the resulting Darius Defoe free throws ended a stunning 27-7 run for the Eagles leaving the visitors reeling and looking like a beaten side. Incredibly, in a wonderfully entertaining period, the tables were turned once again as the visitors fought back to regain the lead with two minutes to play.

Another Charles Smith 3-point bomb coupled with two Andrew Thomson free throws in the final minute lifted the Eagles from two point down to a lead of three and in a frantic end to the game the Rocks couldn’t recover to take the game to overtime.

The celebrations at Sport Central, led by hero of the hour Charles Smith, were akin to a Cup Final victory, with a wave of relief and jubilation washing over players and fans alike. A two-legged semi-final against the winners of Sunday’s Chester Jets v Leicester Riders game awaits the Newcastle Eagles in their quest for the elusive BBL Cup. With their continuing ability to manufacture victories even when they are struggling for form and fit bodies, it would be a brave man to bet against Flournoy and co. from achieving their dream.

These last few weeks of squeezing every drop of energy and know-how from a six man roster has left the Eagles running on empty however. Consequently, it will be a relief for Eagles fans to hear Fab Flournoy confirming the expected return dates of both Paul Gause and Joel Madourie, “Paul will hopefully be back sometime next week, starting training then. Joel will probably be out another week or week and a half. He has elasticity in his ligaments that still need to tighten up which will take a little bit longer than we originally anticipated.”

Gause’s return in particular will be seen as a prerequisite for success in what may be a season defining weekend against fellow early front runners Plymouth Raiders and Leicester Riders later this month.

Next stop for the Newcastle Eagles is Chester and the Cheshire Jets. Never an easy game but one that the Eagles will hope to win with two tough games to follow.