Defeat proves Eagles are no shooting stars
PLYMOUTH RAIDERS 77 NEWCASTLE EAGLES 76
AT the end of any basketball match the only statistic which matters is the final score - but ultimately in this disappointing one-point defeat there may be others just as telling for Newcastle Eagles and head coach Ian Macleod.
Shooting only two of 23 from three-point range in a single-digit loss is huge.
Plus, one of those two triples came on the game-ending buzzer when the Eagles were already four points down.
Add in eight missed free-throws from the not-so-charitable stripe for the visitors and it is perhaps those statistics which may well have been the Eagles undoing in the end.
Plymouth, meanwhile, made double the Eagles’ three-point efforts from only 11 attempts and only missed three from the free-line from the same 22 attempts Newcastle had.
However, this defeat was not just about statistics.
Yes, Newcastle clearly struggled and also had two costly technical fouls called against them as at times their frustrations boiled over but in truth they never seemed as fluid or consistent as they had been three nights earlier against London.
They started brightly enough and when Evan Maxwell slammed home a big dunk and Rahmon Fletcher followed up with a deuce to give Eagles a six-point lead in the first quarter Plymouth’s BBL November Coach of the Month Paul James called a time-out to steady the ship.
It was perfect timing as the home side responded superbly, the introduction of Elliot Sentence inspiring them to a 13-4 finish to the first ten minutes to take a 21-18 lead into the second quarter.
As the Eagles kept missing Raiders kept punishing them in the runup to the half-time hooter.
Ashley Hamilton’s triple gave them a 32-22 advantage as Macleod called a time-out.
This stemmed the flow and Maxwell, Sayers and Fletcher cut the gap to four points.
Back came Plymouth, led by GB international Hamilton as they reasserted authority and nudged further ahead - taking an 11-point lead before Cortez Edward’s last basket of the half brought his side back to within single figures again.
The third quarter was Newcastle’s best and showed their defensive prowess to the full.
They held the home side to ten points in ten minutes and responded with 18 of their own to make it a one-point ball game at 51-50 going into the final ten minutes.
In truth the defensive stops had given the Eagles a chance to really establish themselves in that third period and although they were very much back in the game they may have ultimately missed an opportunity to force the game open.
Darius Defoe’s opening bucket of the final quarter gave Newcastle their first lead since the opening one and they looked the likelier at that stage. However, the home side had other ideas and took the battle back to the visitors with a decisive 16-5 run to give them a 67-57 lead.
Fletcher tried to take the game over but even doubling his own personal score in the final period was not enough for his side to prevail.
The Raiders finally managing to close Maxwell down as the minutes ticked by was also crucial as the big Newcastle centre had looked to be the man most likely to support his captain.
The final nail was entered into the Eagles’ coffin as Plymouth’s Chris Porter-Burton knocked down two free throws to give his side the unassailable four-point gap which made Gordon’s triple on the buzzer irrelevant.
PLYMOUTH : Ashley Hamilton 18, Chris Porter-Burton 14, Elliot Sentence 11. NEWCASTLE : Rahmon Fletcher 24, Evan Maxwell 15, Cortez Edwards 12.