Fab happy with weekend’s work

Newcastle warmed themselves up for Sunday’s BBL Cup final clash with Plymouth Raiders with a pair of victories at the weekend, and coach Fab Flournoy was a happy man.

The Eagles managed 97-71 and 96-91 wins over Glasgow and Milton Keynes respectively, although the Raiders too had a good weekend, thrashing Mersey Tigers 101-84.

Flournoy said: “It goes without saying that we are delighted with the weekend’s work. We chose to hold Joe [Chapman] out despite the fact that if we had needed him he probably could have played. In his absence Bridgey [Andrew Bridge], Darius [Defoe] and Paul [Gause] all stepped up over the course of both games.

“We were sluggish early against the Rocks and even though they were down on numbers Sterling [Davis] ensured his guys were up for the game. They gave us all we could handle early and it was only in the third quarter that we were able to gain some defensive traction. After that they tired a little and it certainly hurt them to have two senior players sitting down and Mychal Green struggling with injury as well.

“For us Charles continued his superb form but Darius was the key to the basketball game in the way that he attacked the rim and shot the ball with confidence. Andy [Thomson] was also as reliable as ever and produced another double-double.”