• Thu. Apr 25th, 2024

North East Connected

Hopping Across The North East From Hub To Hub

Back-to-back defeats have seen Cheshire Phoenix fall further off the pace in the battle for the top eight.

Robbie Peers has brought back former guard, Mike DiNunno, for a second spell at the club and they face a tough double-header in the quest to get back on track.

Firstly, they visit the Emirates Arena – the scene of their last league victory – having beaten Glasgow Rocks in the last game of 2016, before hosting Plymouth Raiders on Sunday.

“This is a big weekend for us and I think our preparation has been outstanding,” declared Frank Eaves.

“We are ready to battle for one another this weekend.”

There’s a top versus bottom double-header on Saturday and Sunday as Leicester Riders welcome Manchester Giants before joining them on the trip up the M6 for the return fixture less than 24 hours later.

Esh Group Eagles Newcastle will be looking to keep up the pressure before the league leaders are in action as they take on Bristol Flyers at Sport Central tonight with a perfect record against Andreas Kapoulas’ side.

Meanwhile, London Lions aim to build on Wednesday’s victory over top-four rivals, Sheffield, as they visit Worcester Wolves who can cut the gap with victory.

Tonight’s BBC Sport game comes live from Surrey Sports Park as Elvisi Dusha makes his return to Surrey Scorchers with Plymouth Raiders, who are now without Peter Hooley after he returned home due to a personal reason.

“TV games sometimes bring a little more pressure to players, but also helps raise their games too,” said Scorchers head coach, Creon Raftopoulos.

“They have a number of weapons on their team, we respect them, and know we need to be at our best.”

The Raiders could find themselves back into the top four if they pull off a double-winning weekend on the road.

Also this weekend, the Yorkshire derby is renewed with the head-to-head on the line between Leeds Force and DBL Sharks Sheffield having split their two games so far this season.

All BBL games are available to watch LIVE over at livebasketball.tv via subscription.