Eagles pile on points as playoff run looms large
NEWCASTLE EAGLES ........... 118 PLYMOUTH RAIDERS ............ 78
ARCH-RIVALS Leicester Riders might have wrapped up the regular season title without breaking into a sweat but Newcastle Eagles aren’t giving up on second without a fight.
The most successful franchise in BBL history heads to Surrey Scorchers tomorrow with the runners-up spot firmly in its sights.
And a stunning 40-point demolition of the Plymouth Raiders proved there’s plenty of life left yet in a club targeting playoff glory following an injury-ravaged campaign.
If London Lions slip up against either Manchester Giants tonight or Cheshire Phoenix tomorrow, then a Newcastle win against the Scorchers will guarantee a top-two finish for the Eagles. Talk about triumphing in adversity.
Whether the stars align for Fabulous Flournoy and his walking wounded remains to be seen.
But wherever the Eagles end up come close of play Sunday, this was a win that defiantly rolled back the years and raised expectations.
A man down after Jamal Williams broke his arm last weekend, Newcastle went into the first of two key league fixtures in desperate need of a confidence-boosting victory.
Plymouth, heading towards a bottom-three finish, proved to be the most obliging of visitors.
Fit-again Jaysean Paige plundered 40 points, with his headline-grabbing haul including four three pointers and a crowd-pleasing dunk down the stretch.
But it was total team basketball that underpinned a convincing win with Saah Nimley’s 21 points in 22 minutes and Jure Gunjina’s 12 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists catching the eye.
England international Drew Lasker partnered Nimley in the backcourt from the tip with Paige, apparently still lacking match fitness, watching on from the bench.
Also missing from Newcastle’s starting five was the in-form Danish international Zarko Jukic.
But with Eagles stars dropping like flies since January, the need to carefully rotate a stretched roster has become increasingly necessary.
Paige and Jukic checked in midway through the first quarter with the hosts leading 12-11 and Flournoy joined the fray moments later – at the same time as ex-Eagles guard Eddie Matthew.
The TyneMet College graduate endured a frustrating three-year spell on Tyneside before moving to Leeds Force.
Two years in West Yorkshire followed and Matthew made 13 league starts for the Force during the 2017/18 campaign before rocking up at the Raiders.
Six seasons into his BBL career and Plymouth may yet provide the popular Geordie with the platform to progress.
But going up against his former club’s free-scoring backcourt was never going to be easy.
And American guard Paige, in particular, made life difficult for a Raiders’ roster that has never taken the regular-season series against the Eagles.
The red-hot rookie and top tip for BBL MVP bagged 18 points in his first seven minutes of action, shooting eight-from-11 from the floor.
Eight of Newcastle’s nine players were on the scoreboard at the half as the hosts piled on the points in a devastating show of offensive strength.
A buzzer-beating Kai Williams three-pointer was the Eagles’ 10th triple of the night as they took a 69-36 lead into the locker room.
By the time Paige sank his 18th basket of the night three minutes into the fourth quarter – to move to the magical 40-point mark and fire his side into a 103-60 lead.
Plymouth’s energy-sapped players already had one foot on the coach home. Newcastle, meanwhile, had one hand on second place and one eye on next week’s playoff quarterfinals.