Rocks dig a hole too deep despite heroic comeback

In the big BBL Championship clash of the week, the Newcastle Eagles remained unbeaten with a dramatic 89-85 victory over second place Glasgow Rocks at a sold-out Kelvin Hall International Sports Arena on Sunday evening. The defeat, coupled with a narrow win for Worcester over the hapless Heat, saw the Scots drop to third at the close of play.

It was always going to be hard going for the Rocks as influential guard E.J. Harrison remained on the sidelines, with the extent of his injury still not fully known, while player-coach Sterling Davis was carrying a knock that ultimately limited him to 13.25 game time.

In front of an electric atmosphere, the Rocks came out all guns blazing and raced to a five point lead, although that was quickly erased by a seven point Newcastle run. The Rocks dominated the boards early on, which was the main reason they only found themselves four down after a first quarter in which the Rocks allowed too many uncontested shots and couldn’t seem to consistently play the type of pressure defence that coach Davis has tried to instil in his troops this season.

If the first quarter was a tight, physical affair, the second was anything but, as Newcastle cruised to a massive 21 point half-time lead. As the great New York Yankees catcher, Yogi Berra, famously uttered, ‘it’s like déjà vu all over again.’ Just last month in the BBL Cup quarter final clash between the two sides in Newcastle, the Eagles clinched victory thanks to a devastating 25-4 run late in the game. This time, believe it or not, they surfed an even bigger wave. The Rocks went nearly eight minutes without a field goal, and scored just nine points in the second quarter as Newcastle embarked on a 25-2 run that appeared to have clinched the game.

Charles Smith, so beloved by the Rocks fans, and Joe Chapman lead their side impressively in the second quarter, while on the defensive side of the ball, the Eagles harassed and hurried the panicking Rocks into turnover after turnover. At half-time, 23 of the 26 Rocks points had been scored by either Canadian Andrew Wedemire, or recently named BBL Player of the Month recipient Mychal Green. Last time I checked, you can’t win a basketball match with only two players.

In my opinion, Rocks coach Davis really missed a trick here during the second quarter. The Eagles, following their Friday night delight against Leicester kept rotating their bench, giving each player ample game time, and, more importantly, rest time. Davis, on the other hand, stuck with just six players. The likes of Bunyan and Malnieks have shown that they can play at this level, so why not use them? Nothing else was working, so why not give one, or even both, a run out for a couple of minutes to try and ignite the offensive side of things? When two players are scoring in excess of 85% of your teams points, it’s time to try and shake things up a bit. Four of the Rocks players were on court for over 37 minutes, yet contrast that to the Eagles where just three players had 30 minutes or more and you see my point.

Any fears that the Eagles fans may have had about the fitness of their side following their BBL Cup semi-final triumph just two days previously were sufficiently swept away by half-time. The Eagles had this one sewn up, right?

Well…you’d have been mistaken in thinking that. It’s amazing what swift kick up the backside can do, for the Rocks came out all guns blazing in the third quarter and cut the gap to just three points going into the final ten minutes. DeAundrae Cranston and Danny Huffor stepped it up and the intensity that was so severely lacking in the second quarter was there for all to see in the third. Finally, shots were dropping for the Rocks (apart from behind the arc, where the Rocks were 1 of 19 with 12 minutes remaining) and a miraculous comeback looked to be on the cards.

The Eagles, of course, are made of sterner stuff and were hardly going to go down without a fight. Every time the Rocks seemed to be closing in, the Eagles would hit a back breaking three, or force a key turnover. Even when the Rocks took a slender one point lead with 6:11 remaining in the game, there seemed an inevitability about the outcome.

Chapman, who top scored with 27 points, made several key baskets down the stretch, while the Eagles hit 6 of 8 free throws in the final minute to keep piling the pressure on to Glasgow. Pressure that, ultimately, proved too much for the Rocks and Newcastle escaped with their unbeaten league record intact. Just.

Game MVP: Joe Chapman – The 27 year old didn’t seem fazed by the Rocks furious comeback and played with a poise and calm that is typical of the ex-Marquette guard. Scored 27 points, along with five rebounds and four assists.