Esh Group Eagles Newcastle celebrated a third straight BBL Cup title yesterday in front of a large crowd at the Barclaycard Arena in Birmingham.
Rahmon Fletcher claimed MVP honours for the third year in a row after pouring in 29 points to go with six assists as Deondre Parks added 25 points in the 91-83 win over Glasgow Rocks.
Fab Flournoy, MBE, has now won 24 pieces of silverware with the Eagles in the BBL and equalled a Cup Final for most steals in a game with 5.
“I’m just happy – it’s difficult being a player-coach controlling emotions at times,” said Flournoy.
“There have been some close games around the league of late, and in a Cup Final, I didn’t expect anything less than a battle on our hands.”
Rocks’ Kieron Achara added: “We got off to a phenomena start tonight and they [Newcastle] stayed with the course of the game, stayed focused and found a way.
“They got a big lead in the second quarter and every shot we missed they capitalised on, so credit where credit is due, they played a great game.
“I’m glad we stuck with the course when we went down and we battled until the end.”
It was also a great weekend for Surrey Scorchers as they claimed two dramatic victories at the buzzer on successive nights.
First, Creon Raftopoulos’ side came from behind to beat Manchester Giants 84-82 as Albert Margai stepped up with the game-winning three before upsetting London Lions with an 87-88 road win in the BBL Trophy.
Bristol Flyers took their winning run to six games after pulling away to beat Worcester Wolves for the second time this season with Aaron Cosby netting 26 points in the 81-73 win.
Also, Leicester Riders held on for an important league win away from home as they defeated DBL Sharks Sheffield 78-82 on Friday to improve to 14-2 – one win behind Newcastle.