There was plenty of history made on Sunday as the milestone of 1 million points scored in the BBL was achieved.
Fab Flournoy won his 500th BBL game in his 600th BBL Championship appearance as Esh Group Eagles defeated Plymouth Raiders 84-92 behind Rahmon Fletcher’s 32 points
Leicester Riders improved to 8-0 with a 92-60 win over Leeds Force, while London Lions are also still unbeaten having defeated Manchester Giants 60-83 on the road.
Meanwhile, Neil Watson scored 20 points to lead Glasgow Rocks to an 84-61 success against Bristol Flyers and Cheshire Phoenix recorded a 102-79 win against Worcester Wolves.
BBL Championship
Glasgow Rocks 84 (25,41,59) (Watson 20, Lescault 19, Murray 14)
Bristol Flyers 61 (19,35,46) (Edozie 13, Cook 12, Vigor/Ali 11)
Glasgow Rocks recorded their fourth straight league victory with an 84-61 success against Bristol Flyers.
Neil Watson top scored with 20 points and dished out five assists with Hayden Lescault adding 19 points to help the Rocks improve to 5-1 in the standings.
The Rocks made a solid start and took control in the early stages as they opened up a six-point lead at the end of the first.
A three from Watson saw the lead hit double figures for the first time in the second but the Flyers hit back and cut the deficit with Hameed Ali’s triple at the buzzer.
The visitors closed to within a single point early in the third, but that was as close as they would get as Glasgow restored their control and broke clear to lead by 13 going into the fourth.
An 8-0 start took the advantage past 20 points and Glasgow went on to secure their fifth league success.
Four players hit double figures for the Flyers but Andreas Kapoulas’ side are now 1-4 in the BBL Championship as their tough start continues.
BBL Championship
Leicester Riders 92 (26,43,66) (Bernardini 25, Sullivan 12, Walker/Hampton 11)
Leeds Force 60 (17,32,48) (Sanders/Marsden 14, Sandoval/Matthew 8)
Leicester Riders are still unbeaten at the top of the BBL Championship after beating Leeds Force 92-60, on Sunday.
The visitors put up a tougher test for the defending league champions than their recent 64-point loss, but were still comfortably beaten.
Tyler Bernardini shot 7-of-8 from beyond the arc on his way to 25 points with four other players in double digits.
Leicester ran out to a 9-2 start and led by as many as 12 in the first before the visitors rallied to close the gap to five points. Back-to-back triples from Bernardini helped Riders pull away in the second and they would hold an 11-point lead at the cushion.
Force were within seven early in the third, but Leicester put together a strong spell to increase their lead to 20 points.
The home side continued to stretch their advantage in the fourth with a 10-0 start and they would secure a convincing 32-point success.
Pierre Hampton also contributed a double-double of 11 points and 13 rebounds to help the Riders improve to 8-0.
BBL Championship
Plymouth Raiders 84 (35,46,70) (Corletto 23, Dixon/Nicholas 18)
Esh Group Eagles Newcastle 92 (36,65,82) (Fletcher 32, Lasker 18, Jackman 11)
Esh Group Eagles Newcastle made it a double-winning weekend with a second victory over Plymouth Raiders following an 84-92 road success.
It was a double dose of BBL history for Eagles player-coach Fab Flournoy as he registered a 600th BBL Championship appearance before earning a 500th win as a coach in the BBL.
Rahmon Fletcher led the way with a 32-point haul, while Drew Lasker weighed in with 18 points from the bench against his former side in the continued absence of Deondre Parks.
The game got off to a high-scoring start as the Eagles edged the first period 35-36 behind a strong start from Fletcher. The Eagles continued in the same vain in the second and established a commanding 19-point advantage at half-time after holding their opponents to 11 points in the second.
Plymouth gradually reduced the deficit in the third and produced a strong finish to cut the gap down to 10 points before Fletcher’s late basket sent the Eagles into fourth up 12.
Fletcher then scored five points in a 7-0 start to restore the 19-point lead, although the Raiders rallied with a 12-0 run to close within seven. However, it was not enough as the Eagles secured their sixth league victory.
Daryl Corletto top scored for the Raiders with 23 points and there were 18 points apiece for Cory Dixon and Donte Nicholas as Plymouth drop to .500 on the season.
BBL Championship
Cheshire Phoenix 102 (30,55,80) (Fox 21, Mosley 19, Brown 17)
Worcester Wolves 79 (32,49,63) (McWhorter/Kennedy 17, Klassen 13)
Cheshire Phoenix bounced back from yesterday’s loss with a convincing 102-79 victory over Worcester Wolves.
Colin O’Reilly’s side pulled clear in the second half to claim a 23-point success for their second league win.
Josh Fox top scored and tallied 21 points and nine rebounds with Max Mosley and Earl Brown adding 19 points and 17 points respectively.
The visitors led by as many as eight in the first period as both teams got off to a high-scoring start with a total of 62 points.
Cheshire took control with a 10-0 burst in the second and that helped establish a 55-49 advantage going into half-time.
The home side started with a 12-2 run to extend their advantage when play resumed and would head into the final quarter, up 17 points and secured their win in style with a strong fourth.
Deondre McWhorter went 6-of-6 from the field in his 17 points but the Wolves were unable to make it a double-winning weekend as they suffered their fourth league defeat.
BBL Championship
Manchester Giants 60 (14,33,42) (Toluwase 17, Okoro 11, Bell 10)
London Lions 83 (20,40,64) (Hassan 22, K Williams 18, Owumi 17)
London Lions are still yet to taste defeat yet this season after overcoming Manchester Giants with a 60-83 victory away from home.
Rashad Hassan led the way with 22 points and 10 rebounds with Kai Williams and Alex Owumi adding 18 and 17 points respectively.
The Lions are now 4-0 as one of two unbeaten teams remaining in the BBL Championship.
Sam Toluwase made an instant impact on his Giants debut with back-to-back triples to start the game on his way to a team-high 17 points.
However, Manchester’s lead at 6-5 was short-lived and the Lions used a 7-0 run to move ahead before further stretching their advantage in the second into double figures.
The home side closed to within three, but the Lions finished the half well and would then hold their opponents to single figures in the third to break clear for good.
Back-to-back triples from Owumi took the lead out to 27 points and the Lions were able to see out a convincing victory despite a tough test in the opening half.
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P
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PL | W | L | Pts | |
| 1 | Leicester Riders | 8 | 8 | 0 | 16 |
| 2 | Esh Group Eagles Newcastle | 7 | 6 | 1 | 12 |
| 3 | Glasgow Rocks | 6 | 5 | 1 | 10 |
| 4 | London Lions | 4 | 4 | 0 | 8 |
| 5 | Plymouth Raiders | 6 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 6 | DBL Sharks Sheffield | 8 | 3 | 5 | 6 |
| 7 | Cheshire Phoenix | 6 | 2 | 4 | 4 |
| 7 | Worcester Wolves | 6 | 2 | 4 | 4 |
| 9 | Surrey Scorchers | 9 | 2 | 7 | 4 |
| 10 | Leeds Force | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| 11 | Bristol Flyers | 5 | 1 | 4 | 2 |
| 12 | Manchester Giants | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 |