BBL Championship
Leicester Riders 87-78 Newcastle Eagles (11-23, 39-49, 60-61)
(Riders: Jackson, 29; Mackenzie, 12; Love, 9 – Eagles: Hamlet, 23; Cohn, 20; French/Defoe, 10)
BBL Championship
Plymouth City Patriots 80-85 Caledonia Gladiators (20-19, 43-40, 62-61)
(Patriots: Hasan, 18; Dang Akudu, 16; Bysanth, 15. Gladiators: Durham, 24; Alihudzic, 15; Sloane, 14)
BBL Championship
B Brown Sheffield Sharks 89-75 Cheshire Phoenix (19-21, 42-35, 62-59)
(Sharks: Ramsey, 21; Nicholls, 15; Glasgow Jr., 13 – Phoenix: Austin Jr., 18; Jack, 17; Evans, 16)
BBL Championship
Manchester Giants 90-96 London Lions (24-31, 45-52, 63-78)
(Giants: Williams, 35; Green, 21; Roberson, 10 — Lions: Better, 28; Zubchik/Sharma/Decker, 11; Nelson, 10)
Leicester Raiders moved into second place, but had to work hard to claim an 87-78 win over the Newcastle Eagles on Retro Day at Morningside Arena on Easter Sunday.
Trailing the majority by as much as 14 points, Leicester edged Newcastle 46-29 in the second half to edge out in the fourth and put pressure on the Tyneside side, who sit just outside the play-off places with four games remaining.
Zach Jackson provided a huge spark for the Knights as he led the way with 29 points, hitting 10/13 from the field, including five three-pointers.
Javon Hamlet scored 23 points for Newcastle.
Newcastle got off to a solid 5-0 start, keeping the Raiders scoreless for over two minutes before Jackson got an easy score inside, setting the tone for much of the match.
The Eagles didn’t let the result deter them as David Cohn hit three goals from the wing along with free throws from Justin Gordon to take a 10-2 lead before Patrick Whelan connected from deep inside to cut the deficit.
Leicester was threatening, but the visitors stood tall and three on the second attempt from Hamlet forced Raiders coach Rob Paternostro to storm out 21-9 with 2:17 left.
Trailing 23-11 after one, the Riders clawed their way back, getting the better of the opening exchanges as Newcastle could find no joy in their field goal attempts.
Through 7’3″ Aaron Menzies, who caused trouble for the Eagles, Leicester managed to bring it back to nine until Kuhn’s fumble and three, off the screen from Ben Mockford restored the Eagles’ double-digit lead at 30-17.
The visitors managed to maintain a good position, and every time Leicester found their groove, Newcastle responded right back and at the half, they took a 49-39 lead.
Leicester, caught in the third, went on a 7-0 run to cut the deficit as Newcastle’s defense held firm and Darren Nelson Henry made it one point (51-50) with a hook under the basket.
Newcastle, who had 11 points in the first two minutes of the third minute, needed to stop the bleeding, but the Raiders were on their toes as Jackson gave the hosts a 52-51 lead at the halfway point.
Refusing to throw in the towel, Newcastle applied pressure, shedding their poor start to the quarter to finish strong and regain their lead, albeit by a point in fourth place.
The two teams battled fiercely against each other to start the final quarter, and the physicality was evident. Cohn hit a great conversion followed by a triple from Evan Walsh to lead the game at 66-66 early on.
It was a case of who could hold their nerve, and Leicester made their statement at the halfway point as an 8-0 run, capped by a glass jumper by Jackson, gave Jackson a cushion of 74-66.
Attacking the basket and stopping, the Eagles made life difficult for the Riders as the basket under massive pressure from Hamlet narrowed the gap to 74-70.
The last two minutes were tense for the Knights, but a three from Jackson into the corner with 90 seconds left finally sealed the deal.
The Caledonian Gladiators took a nearly 1,000-mile round trip with a vital 85-80 win over the Plymouth City Patriots in the Pavilions.
Having made the nine-hour trip by bus, you can forgive Caledonia for starting slowly, which they did. However, they recovered well by taking advantage of Plymouth’s own ride, having played a physical encounter in Surrey the night before.
With neither team dropping more than seven points until the final quarter, the Glasgow side pulled out late to improve their chances of making the top four.
The Dirhams led the winners with 24 points, shooting 63% from the field and going perfect 3/3 from three-point range. Fahro Iodizic scored a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Rashad Hasan held off a minor blow in the early stages of the first quarter to lead Plymouth with 18 points and 11 rebounds.
Despite Hassan being injured but still playing, the Patriots took a 14-7 lead midway through the first half by reaching for the basket and finding holes in the Caledonian defense.
However, the Gladiators also found ways past the Plymouth walls as well, primarily through backdoor slots, where two baskets from Alihodzic narrowed the gap, and Durham tied the game with a layup 3 at 15-15 with 2:29 left.
The hosts weathered the Storm, and as the buzzer sounded in the first period, they took a 20-19 lead. The Gladiators came out in the second half and took advantage of the Patriots’ rushing jump shots to take a 25-21 lead thanks to an open bucket midrange from David Sloan.
BBL Trophy MVP Award, Sloandrained a corner jumper, taking down Gul Dang Akudu in the process, followed by a dunk on the move by Jeremiah Bailey to keep Caledonia’s cushion before Issa Brandon hit a three into the corner to tie the game at 31-31 with 4:45 left in a contested first period. closely.
But from there, Otis Iyekekpolor came in for the Patriots, jostling on every loose ball, causing mayhem on his way to and helping Plymouth regain the advantage they held at the half.
Plymouth then tried to drive away in the third cage as a pass from Hassan put them ahead 54-49 with 4:30 left in the quarter.
Caledonia were fighting back and looking poised going into the final period, until Hassan scored in the third quarter to put the lead back into Plymouth.
Although the Gladiators were unimpressed and kept their momentum going, going 6-0 to take a 72-67 lead, halfway through the fourth.
As time ticked by, the Caledonians slowed their offense, frustrating the hosts, and a three-run home run from Princeton Onuas with 2:44 left gave them a 77-69 lead to nail the dagger for good.
A strong performance in the fourth quarter propelled the B Brown Sheffield Sharks to an 89-75 victory over the Cheshire Phoenix in Ponds Forge.
With the hosts leading 62-59 going into the fourth quarter, both teams were competitive and built their own momentum in what was set to be an enticing last ten minutes.
But Sheffield, who secured their place alongside Phoenix in the playoffs Friday night, stormed into fourth place with a 12-2 lead to end the Easter weekend with two wins from two.
Deverell Ramsey led the Sharks with 21 points, seven rebounds and three steals, backed up by 15 points from Kipper Nichols.
After trading the first three points, the visitors – courtesy of Larry Austin Jr. – would build a 9-5 advantage in their first four low-scoring minutes, but Sheffield would close the gap.
Despite the Sharks’ attempts, Phoenix kept pushing and took a narrow 21-19 lead heading into the second quarter when the home side responded with a 6-0 run to swing things through, taking an early 25-23 lead.
And through Rodney Glasgow Jr., the Sharks kept the lead at the half, taking a 42-35 lead.
But Cheshire, still trailing by six midway through the third period, bounced back to life as Marcus Evans exhausted quick three-pointers to give his team a 53-52 advantage with 4:13 left.
However, Sheffield fought back, in a repeating theme of the game with an 8-0 run to take a 60-53 cushion and stayed up by three going into the final quarter.
From there, a game-changing 12-2 run put them in the clear for good.
Austin Jr. led the Phoenix charge with an 18-point and 11-rebound double-double.
The winners of the BBL Championship, the London Lions, continued their run to the post-season with a 96-90 victory over the Manchester Giants at the National Basketball Performance Center.
As the league wrapped up, the Lions put in an impressive all-round display against a talented Manchester side from start to finish.
The Giants held the final inning 9-3 thanks to ex-Lyon Dirk Williams to come close, but London would be out.
In the three-point shootout, which saw a total of 22 connected, Aaron Best scored six on his way to 28 with Williams taking 7/13 from deep on his way to a match-high 35 for the hosts, while also grabbing 11 boards.
Known for their high-intensity game, Manchester United were dropped to the ground at the start as their best hat-trick gave the Lions a 13-8 lead, but both teams were unable to run their offense as fans watched all season.
The Giants responded but the London team would lead by seven points going into the second quarter, which stretched to 37-27 thanks to jumper Sam Decker, who is making his comeback from injury.
The Lions would hold their double-digit cushion for the majority of the period until Nick Lewis scooped a half-court triple at the buzzer to bring the Belle Vie crowd to its feet to narrow the gap to 52-45.
Unfazed, the Lions showed a hero’s mentality and remained focused on the task at hand, as a 6-0 inning extended their lead to 69-51 with 5:39 left in the third.
Leading by as much as 21 points, London settled for a 78-63 lead after three, and managed to see through the fourth quarter to finish Easter Sunday’s action.
Londoners return to the 7-day European Football Championship this week as they travel to Barcelona to face Joventut Badalona, while Cheshire Phoenix is hosted by Surrey Scorchers On an exciting Wednesday night.