BBL Trophy
Newcastle Eagles 70-84 London Lions (11-36, 35-50, 52-72)
(Eagles – Fletcher 19, Defoe 17, Peel 12; Lions – Williams 18, Neighbour 16, Kelley 15)
BBL Championship
Bristol Flyers 64-92 Leicester Riders (21-27, 35-48, 54-68)
(Flyers – Johnson 17, Delpeche 16, Jacob 13; Riders – Whelan 25, Loving 12, Mackenzie 13)
BBL Championship
Plymouth City Patriots 82-73 Surrey Scorchers (20-21, 43-32, 65-50)
(Patriots – Williams 25, Hassan 14, Ubiaro 13; Scorchers – Hamrick 25, Davis Jr 22, Jamison 10)
BBL Championship
B. Braun Sheffield Sharks 56-77 Cheshire Phoenix (15-20, 26-33, 43-52)
(Sharks – Glasgow Jr 17, Ratinho 12, Nichols 11; Phoenix – Bradley 19, Wright 15, Austin 12)
Leicester Riders, Cheshire Phoenix and Plymouth City Patriots all picked up BBL Championship wins while London Lions comfortably beat Newcastle Eagles in the BBL Trophy in a bumper Friday night of British Basketball.
Plymouth City Patriots and Surrey Scorchers could barely be separated after a tight opening quarter. It was Scorchers that held a narrow 21-20 lead after a close-fought opening period in front of the Sky Sports cameras.
Patriots responded well in the second . Scoring 23 points in the period they went into the halftime break 43-32 up. It would be a lead that they would not give up for the rest of the game as they added a further 22 in the third and 17 in the last to wrap up a convincing 82-72 victory.
Antonio Williams was the star man for Patriots as he finished with 25 points, six rebounds and four assists.
Leicester Riders showed why they sit at the top of the BBL Championship as they beat Bristol Flyers 92-64.
Flyers were still in the game after a competitive first quarter that saw them trail 27-21. Unfortunately for the home side Riders came out a different side in the second. They limited the home side to 14 points and added 21 of their own to lead 48-35 at halftime.
The third quarter was a close affair. Riders won the quarter 20-19 to extend their lead to 68-54 and put the game out of reach for Flyers. They scored a further 24 in the last to wrap up the win.
Patrick Whelan scored a game-high 25 points for Riders while Antwain Johnson led the scoring charts for Flyers with 17 points.
Cheshire Phoenix won every quarter in an impressive 77-56 victory over the B. Braun Sheffield Sharks.
Phoenix led 20-15 after the first and extended their lead to 33-26 at halftime after winning the second period 13-11 in a low-scoring quarter.
The third quarter was also closely fought with the away side adding 19 to Sharks 17. Phoenix kicked on in the last, scoring 25 points in an impressive offensive display.
Levi Bradley narrowly missed out on a double-double performance with 19 points and nine rebounds for Phoenix while Rodney Glasgow Jr scored a team-high 17 points for Sharks.
London Lions got off to an electric start in their BBL Trophy first-round match against Newcastle Eagles. The side from the capital scored 36 in the opening quarter and limited their opponents to just 11 to take a 25-point lead into the second quarter.
Eagles, however, hit back in the second. Winning the quarter 24-14 to narrow the gap to 15 points with Lions ahead 50-35. Lions added 22 in the third to lead 72-52. Eagles did narrow the deficit in the fourth after winning the last quarter 18-12 but it would not be enough as they slipped to a 84-70 loss.