BBL Championship
Newcastle Eagles 89-110 Manchester Giants (34-29, 49-47, 68-79, 89-110)
(Eagles: J.Gordon – 23, W.Person Jr – 19, D.Defoe – 14; Giants: G.Artison – 24, T.Armstrong – 23, D.Ulph – 14)
BBL Championship
Bristol Flyers 75-72 Sheffield Sharks (18-12, 37-24, 45-39, 63-63, 75-72)
(Flyers: T.Jacob – 17, M.Evans – 13, R.Thomas-Edwards – 12; Sharks: D.Wallace – 25, R.Glasgow Jr – 9, A.Johnson – 8)
BBL Championship
Surrey Scorchers 95-86 Glasgow Rocks (24-21, 46-42, 70-63, 95-86)
(Scorchers: D.Ringer – 20, L.Hamrick – 17, T.Ogedengbe – 12; Rocks: J.Harris – 21, G.Murray – 20, J.Johnson – 14)
BBL Championship
Leicester Riders 80-59 Cheshire Phoenix (14-11, 39-26, 64-41, 80-59)
(Riders: G.Crandall – 13, P.Whelan – 13, K.Mackenzie – 10; Phoenix: L.Austin Jr – 18, M.Ochereobia – 12, T.Okereafor – 10)
Manchester Giants were very impressive in front of the Sky Sports cameras tonight, beating Newcastle Eagles on the road, while Bristol Flyers, Surrey Scorchers and Leicester Riders all won in front of their home crowds.
Up on Tyneside, it was the Eagles who got off to the better start, leading at half-time by two points, but they surrendered after a Giants comeback led by Geno Artison – who scored 24 and went 6-7 from behind the arc, and Tyrik Armstrong – who dropped 23 and went 90% from the field with 11 assists too.
Despite losing by over 20 points, all five Eagles starters reached double-digits for points, with Rahmon Fletcher contributing a ten-point 14-assist double-double, Justin Gordon leading the team on points with 23, and Darius Defoe going 6-7 from the field.
Meanwhile in Bristol, the Flyers required overtime to defeat Sheffield Sharks, who came from behind to level things up in the final quarter, but Devante Wallace’s impressive game-high of 25 points wasn’t enough in the end.
Five Flyers’ players reached double figures for points, compared to Sharks’ one, with Trejon Jacob leading the home team in points with 17, as well as leading the game in rebounds with 11 to round off a terrific double-double on the way to victory.
Elsewhere in Surrey, the Scorchers held on for their first victory since the first day of the year, as Stanley Davis Jr came two rebounds away from a triple-double, after scoring 11 and making 12 assists – while Desmond Ringer led the team with 20 points, going 81% from the field.
Rocks guard Jordan Harris scored a game-high of 21, with coach Gareth Murray also contributing a significant amount to the offence with 20 points himself, but it wasn’t enough to catch Surrey.
In the final game of the day which tipped off 30 minutes later than the others, the Riders dominated BBL Trophy Finalists Cheshire Phoenix, with Geno Crandall leading the scoring for the home team with 13, alongside Patrick Whelan who matched his total.
The visitors struggled with point contributions from the bench, scoring 20 points less than Leicester, but one big positive that can be taken out of the game was Larry Austin Jr’s brilliant 18 points, ten rebounds, six assists and eight steals display – not too far away from an unbelievable quadruple double despite ending up on the losing team.