| Bristol Flyers produced an outstanding display to beat Esh Group Eagles Newcastle 86-73 at SGS WISE Arena, to go joint top of the league with London Lions. The visitors, who started the weekend in first place, drop to third in the standings. Fred Thomas stole the show for the hosts with a game-high 27 points and eight rebounds.
Elsewhere, the First Round of the BBL Cup concluded with an 81-90 victory for Worcester Wolves over London City Royals at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre. The Wolves will meet London Lions in the next round. Robert Crawford poured in a team-high 22 points for the visitors. |
| BBL Cup, First Round London City Royals 81-90 Worcester Wolves (22-24, 42-43, 60-65) Worcester Wolves have progressed through the first round of the BBL Cup after beating London City Royals 90-81 at Crystal Palace. It is a first win since the opening night of the season for Wolves, who fell short in the BBL Cup Final last season, and they will face London Lions in the quarter-finals. Leading scorers – Bryan-Amaning 25, Lucas 14, Akodo 13 (Royals); Crawford 22, Thoseby 19, Combs 16 (Wolves) Turning point – The key spell came at the end of the third quarter as Wolves overturned a deficit to score the last seven points of the period, sparked by an Adam Thoseby three-pointer, as they took a 65-60 lead into the fourth. The game was still tight heading down the stretch, settled by a crucial Thoseby triple to make the score 80-73 approaching the final minute. Key stat – Long-range shooting proved the key for both teams. Wolves hit nine three-pointers, at 36%, while the hosts could only manage 21% on their 28 attempts. Game hero(es) – A trio of players were key for Wolves: Rob Crawford led the scoring with 22 points; while Thoseby hit the key late basket and finished with 19 points on 3-5 three-pointers; and Darell Combs shot 6-9 from the field for 16 points, to go with nine rebounds. |
| BBL Championship Bristol Flyers 86-73 Esh Group Eagles Newcastle (29-18, 50-36, 69-57) Bristol Flyers continued their impressive start to the season with an 86-73 victory at home against Esh Group Newcastle Eagles – the side from the southwest joining London Lions at the top of the table. The Eagles’ second defeat in 24 hours sees the team from the north east fall to third place in the Championship standings, having started the weekend undefeated and clear at the top of the table. Leading scorers – Thomas 27, Falzon, Gray 13 (Flyers); Moses 19, Smith 17, Defoe 13 (Eagles) Turning point – The home team came out of the blocks on fire, outscoring the visitors 29-18 over the opening 10 minutes. The Flyers seized the game’s momentum and never let go. Key stat – Bristol won the battle of the boards, collecting 11 more rebounds and converting double the amount of second chance points. Game hero – Fred Thomas produced an impressive display for Bristol, netting a game-high 27 points on just 15 shots to go along with eight rebounds |
|