Friday’s BBL Roundup

BBL Championship contenders Newcastle Eagles were rocked by the Plymouth Raiders as they endured an 85-76 defeat in front of a home crowd in the northeast. Meanwhile, Guildford had too much heat for the MK Lions and Mersey Tigers clawed through the Sheffield Sharks in close, hard fought affairs.

in a tense game, the Raiders were led by their front line of Lehmon Colbert and Paul Williams who both recorded 19 points accompanied by Jeremy Bell’s 12 point and 8 assists.

Plymouth raced into a 12-3 lead early on in the first quarter rounded off with a James Jones score. The Eagles battled back with an unanswered 9 point run to level the scores. Two quick baskets from Williams ended the quarter with the Raiders in front by 16-14.

It was the same start to the second quarter with Plymouth on the front foot satying ahead at 20-14 stamped with authority as Michael Ojo slammed home a dunk. . The Raiders would maintain this lead to head to lockers  45-31 to the good.

Plymouth exploded into the second half and would soon see their lead strect beyond 20 points with James Jones scoring from beyond the arc. The hosts managed to halve that lead going into the final stanza at 56-66.

Newcastle improved in the final quarter cutting the deficit to just a single bucket with Charles Smith sinking a three pointer to make the score 72-74. Smith had 15 points on the night but he was unable to change the outcome of the game as Plymouth’s persistence helped them claim victory.

Elsewhere in the league, A strong 31 point performance in the second quarter earned the Guildford Heat  a 95-90 success over the MK Lions. Drew Lasker was at the forefront of scoring again with 22 points personal. Finally the Mersey Tigers upset the Sheffield Sharks in a 79-71 triumph in a night of surprising results in the British Basketball League.