Moses baskets ensure Wolves are cast adrift
FORWARD POWERS ON
NEWCASTLE Eagles needed Friday’s 97-89 win against Worcester Wolves to put them back on track.
After the previous weekend’s double reversal at the hands of Leicester and Bristol, it was a timely boost as the Eagles have some tough games coming up in both the BBL Championship and Cup.
In what was a tight and keenly fought contest, Newcastle overcame a resilient bottom-of-the-table Wolves side throughout 40 pulsating minutes.
The hosts needed a hero – and that man was Victor Moses.
The American power forward turned in a sublime individual performance, netting 31 points, grabbing 15 rebounds and blocking four shots to lead his side to the hardfought victory.
Unsurprisingly, he was in a happy mood after the final buzzer.
“It was good to get back on a winning track today,” he said.
“I think the key was our defensive rebounding. We’ve been getting outrebounded the last couple of games we lost so we had to key in on that as one of the adjustments we needed and we did a good job of that.”
Moses definitely played a huge part in that rebounding effort and these days seems like an almost automatic double-double (points/ rebounds) showing why the Eagles brought him to Newcastle.
He was just as key on the offensive end turning rebounds in to key scores to help his side.
“I saw that a lot of our shots were short and I had to come and make a few plays and fortunately they fell in to my hands.
“But it was not just me, it was a good all-round team effort. Jeremy (Smith) is a great player and he’s always going to give us a spark whether it’s off the bench or starting and Darius (Defoe) is a BBL veteran and you know what to expect from him as he’s done it for years.”
Smith was terrific having 27 points in just over 25 minutes on court while Defoe, relishing his new role this season coming off the bench, was once again in double figures and played a huge role defensively to stave off the hungry Wolves.
Eagles also had to play the entire final quarter without stand-out point guard Rahmon Fletcher after the playmaker tweaked a hamstring late in the third period forcing him out of the game.
That’s when Moses really stepped up and found spots to punish Worcester.
“I’m getting used to playing with all of these guys,” said Moses.
“So, whether someone comes out of the game injured somebody always seems to fill in and is ready to play and I’ve just got to adjust to that. It was a hard-working week in practice and I think that work paid off tonight.”
Newcastle’s next game is on Friday against Cheshire Phoenix at Sport Central.
The Eagles beat Phoenix 70-65 in the season’s opener in September. That game is followed by a cup quarter-final on Saturday in Leicester.
“It was kind of slow start when we played Cheshire last time out but we’ve improved so I think we’ll be ready for them and it’ll be a lot better this time around,” said Moses.
“Hopefully can get a win that will take us into the Leicester game with a boost.”