Prince Charles the Lion Tamer
BBL Championship – Friday 30th March 2012
Newcastle Eagles 101 MK Lions 92
After the hullabaloo surrounding last week’s Trophy Final, Sport Central was a more subdued place, but it was business as usual with as the BBL Champions elect showed more than enough quality to tame former Eagles’ favourite Mike New’s plucky visitors.
Ever since Milton Keynes replaced Howard Crawford with the newly released Shark Justin Dobbins and bold claims of a potential fourth place finish emanated from the Lions camp their dreams have turned to ashes and even the prospect of a humble playoff berth now hangs in the balance. As is so often the case with the Eagles’ opponents, it was a feisty, more competitive Lions that arrived in Newcastle last night.
It was an unexpected Lions starting five that took to the court with star men Bolds, Gill, Dobbins and Northern remaining on the bench and a three point shot from veteran Robert Youngblood gave them their only lead of the game early in the quarter. It didn’t take long for the Eagles to take control however and the stretched away to 29-20 at the end of the first stanza.
The game threatened to unravel for the visitors as both Bolds and Northern gave up technical fouls, with the former being punished by four free throws from Andrew Thomson. Lions’ refused to roll over and went into the locker room 46-32 down at the half.
An offensive slugfest ensued in the third quarter with the big guns blazing on all sides and the Eagles keeping the Lions at bay ending relatively comfortable at 76-61. The final stanza continued in a similar vein as points exploded at both ends but a Stefan Gill 3-point shot clawed the Lions right back into the game at 93-84 with 3.03 remaining. Eagles managed to keep the visitors at arms length for the remainder but the end of the game was marred by a potentially serious knee injury to Lions’ Justin Dobbins. The MK big man was stretchered off with 1.42 remaining after spending a long time on the Sport Central floor.
The Eagles were led by 28 points from Charles Smith, with Andrew Thomson adding yet another double double of 20 points and 10 rebounds. Darius Defoe also impressed with a 19 point haul for Eagles. Demarius Bolds top scored for Lions with 20 points.
After another dominant performance from the veteran, Charles Smith was modest in his post match analysis, “We shot the ball pretty well and I played ok especially in the second half. I missed a few shots in the first half. It was all about our team defence really. In the second half we let them get in transition and get back into the game but over all we played well and got the important win.”
Charles continued, “They always play hard against us. Most teams do and we always expect to get everyone’s best shot so we come out and try to control every game from the start.”
As the news filtered through from Leicester of a defeat for the second placed Worcester Wolves, Charles smiled at the prospect of yet another trophy to add to his collection, “We’re working towards the title. That’s the next piece of silverware up and we planned on getting that as soon as we can!”
It’s off to the old enemy for Charles and the Eagles on Sunday, “I always look forward to heading up to Glasgow to take on the Rocks. It’s always fun and I get plenty of boos from people who don’t even know me!”
