Eagles break records in landslide win
ESH Group Eagles Newcastle opened their BBL Championship challenge on the road in Leeds last night in record-breaking fashion, (writes Jeff King).
Fab Flournoy’s black- and-white warriors laid siege to Leeds’s doors and forced them down in some style, 60-148, setting BBL records in the process for the highest-ever winning margin of 88 points and for the most points scored in a league game.
As statements and markers go this must be one of the biggest as Newcastle’s irresistible style, combining superb aggressive defence with athletic transition and killer finishing, all came together.
The record books can be looked and digested and it’s doubtful that the Eagles have ever hit 148 points in a BBL Championship game.
But records are there to be broken and recorded and at the end of the day the most important stat for Fab Flournoy and his team will be that they have one win in the bank.
People will point out that the turmoil their opponents have endured as they prepared for the season, and not having one of their import players available did make a difference.
The visitors were down early, but once point guard Saah Nimley and his back-court partner-in-crime Jaysean Paige got in to their stride and rhythm there was only ever going to be one winner.
Big Terry Martin also came off the bench in a scintillating first half to also raise double figures by the half-time buzzer.
By that time Newcastle had torched their opponents to the tune of 69-26.
If the beleaguered home side thought that the half-time rest may have seen Newcastle slacken off, they were very much mistaken.
By the final buzzer they had no fewer than eight players in double figures, with Paige and Nimley leading the way.
Paige had an incredible 81% shooting success rate and Nimley’s 27 points came at more than a point a minute in his 26 on court.
Dane Zarko Jukic was an athletic force at both ends of the floor and had a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Croatian Jure Gunjina was only one rebound short of joining him in the double-double club, with Kai Williams and AJ Basi also joining in the fun and hitting double figures.