From Britain, Sam Chadwick brings us a wrapup of BBL action over a weekend which saw the BBL Championship continue while the Glasgow Rocks and Manchester Giants battled it out to advance to the BBL Cup Quarter Finals…
Friday 12th October 2012
Newcastle Eagles 99-75 Durham Wildcats
The northeast rivalry between Durham and Newcastle continued this weekend with last season champions looking to knock off the Wildcats in an easy game. The first half was relatively lop-sided with the Eagles taking a 32 point lead into the half-time break, Durham came out fighting in the 3rd quarter not to be out done by their local rivals and managed to drop the gap to just 13 going into the final quarter, however it was the Champions that showed why they have been so successful in the BBL for the past few seasons by stopping the Wildcats in their track’s. This game saw Durham dominate the usually inside force of the Eagles out-rebounding the defending champions 41-30 and out-scoring them in the paint 40-30, unfortunately for all their inside effort it was the points they gave up off turnovers that killed Durham as Newcastle went 23-8.
Eagles –
J Chapman-30 points, 2 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal.
C Smith-22 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal.
D Huffman-19 points, 1 rebound, 5 assists, 3 steals.
Wildcats –
B Guinane-19 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist.
R Bucci-10 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals.
K Page-17 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals.
Saturday 13th October 2012
Worcester Wolves 98-48 Mersey Tigers
Worcester continue their solid start to the season despite missing key man Sherrad Prezzie-Blue who is still having problems with his visa, the Tigers on the other hand continue their very disappointing start to the season and are yet to rack up a win. For the Mersey based side it’s easy to see why they are struggling, shooting 18% on three point attempts, 30% from the field and getting out-rebounded 45-22 doesn’t point to the most outstanding talent while the Wolves can benefit from knowing that their 3 top players managed to do so much in just 17, 14 and 18 minutes of action (details below), the Wolves can also be proud of their transition defence which managed to convert 22 points off of Mersey turnovers.
Wolves –
A Owumi-19 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists (17mins).
S Ocitti-10 points, 9 rebounds, 2 blocks (14mins).
C Fernandez-10 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals (18mins).
Tigers –
R Etilopy-10 points, 6 rebounds, 5 turnovers, 1 steal.
G Hulsen-7 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 turnovers, 1 steal.
Leicester Riders 89-83 London Lions
In what was a close game the final score came down to which team could make their free throws as the Riders converted 65% from the line compared to the Lions 50% from the stripe, however those were not they only figures to stand out as the Riders used their solid defence to covert 18 points off of turnovers in comparison to the Lions 4. This game was made in the second half after the Lions went into the half time break holding onto a 37-45 lead, however the Leicester hosts came strong into the 3rd quarter as they outscored their visitors 32-15 and the Lions couldn’t get it back in the final minutes of the game.
Riders –
J Couisnard-28 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals.
J Fraley-23 points, 14 rebounds, 79%FG, 2 blocks.
A Sullivan-10 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals, 1 block.
Lions –
O Jackman-18 points, 13 rebounds, 2 assists.
A Sturt-16 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal.
D James-11 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 block.
Surrey Heat 79-63 Sheffield Sharks
The Heat used a dominant inside performance to add another league win to their successful start to the season, it’s hard to believe that this is the same team that went 0-13 last year before finally getting a win. The game started relatively close with the Heat taking a 2 point lead into the half time break, however a big 4th quarter from the home team saw them take an easy 16 point victory.
Heat –
M McLemore-25 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block.
F Holmes-10 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks.
C Holmes-13 points, 1 rebound, 6 assists, 4 steals, 1 block.
Sharks –
G Daye-9 points, 2 rebounds, 8 assist, 7 steals.
O Babalola-15 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal.
A Bridge-5 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals.
Sunday 14th October 2012
Glasgow Rocks 88-85 Manchester Giants-BBL Cup
The Manchester Giants were yet again over reliant on the 3 point shot (9/28) hitting just 32% while also shooting an abysmal 55% from the free-throw line, they honestly may as well have had Shaq shooting there FT’s and all this after the Giants went into the half time with a 7 point lead, the home team Rocks however would not give up closing the gap to just 3 by the end of the 4th quarter and eventually taking the lead in the final period. Kieron Achara continued his solid start at the Rocks as he was all over the place on the stat sheet (details below)!
Rocks –
K Achara-18 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals, 1 block.
EJ Harrison-27 points, 2 rebounds.
G Murray-16 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 1steal, 1 block.
Giants –
D Aliu-20 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal.
D Watts-16 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals.
M Williams-12 points, 6 rebounds, 86% FG. (17mins)
Cheshire Jets 58-98 Worcester Wolves
Cheshire Jets continue their quest to be one of the BBL’s worst teams in competition history (alongside Mersey Tigers), this past Sunday against the Wolves (still without Prezzie-Blue) shot 31% from the field, 22% from three and 52% from the free throw line while only assisting on 4 made baskets! In comparison the Wolves had 38 assists and did a great job of sharing the ball, on route to 49% from the field and 48% from three. The took a 27 point lead into half time and a lot of the game was spent spreading minutes between some of their younger development players. Daniel Belgrave who had an impressive night Friday versus the Tigers exploded for a ridiculous 26 points and 6 rebounds.
Jets –
C Marks-22 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 4 steals.
S Myers-13 points, 14 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal.
Wolves –
D Belgrave-26 points, 6 rebounds.
A Owumi-18 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists.
A Masiulis-7 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal.
The BallinEurope BBL Stat Line of The Week: John Fraley-Leicester Riders-23 points, 14 rebounds, 2 blocks, 79% FG.
Sam Chadwick is the head coach of the Solent Kestrels U14 basketball team and manages the basketball-themed ProspectsInEurope.com, a partner website of BiE. Chadwick is now a contributor at BBLfans.com, and you can follow him on Twitter at @chadwick9.
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