MISTAKES TAKE TOLL ON EAGLES IN DEFEAT BY RAIDERS
THEY say nothing beats experience but Ian MacLeod will always do his best.
Disappointingly, the proud Geordie’s best just was not good enough last night against one of British basketball’s master tacticians.
Opposite number Paul James arrived at the Eagles’ Community Arena just days after passing the 1,000-game milestone as a BBL coach.
MacLeod, by contrast, has been bossing Newcastle for less than two years.
The basketball court, of course, can be great leveller.
Records matter little once the opening buzzer sounds and Championship points are up for grabs.
Yet MacLeod met his match in one of predecessor Fabulous Flournoy’s best pals and this agonising loss was a tough lesson for the Eagles’ talented playcaller and his crestfallen players.
January’s coach of the month welcomed the latest winner after James led Plymouth Raiders to a stunning 6-1 record heading into March.
February, of course, was a month to forget for MacLeod.
Newcastle did manage to arrest an alarming losing streak with a hardfought victory against an in-form Cheshire Phoenix last Friday.
Even in the continued absence of talismanic BBL Cup final MVP Justin Gordon, the men in black were confident of repelling the Raiders.
If nothing does beat experience then Darius Defoe should be unstoppable.
‘Mr 26’, a reference to Defoe’s bulging medal haul, is the BBL’s most decorated player and Gordon’s niggling ankle injury has expedited the veteran forward’s return to MacLeod’s starting five.
On nights like this, against a Plymouth roster boasting a slew of big bodies, the lively Londoner is needed more than most.
So it was cause for concern for the hosts Defoe picked up a third foul in the dying stages of a second half which ended terribly for the Eagles.
Two evenly-matched sides could not be separated after a bruising opening quarter - but one player stood head and shoulders above the rest.
Cortez Edwards netted seven points, pulled down four boards and dished up a brace of assists in just seven minutes.
If there is a better all-rounder in the BBL then he is yet to emerge this season.
After opening up a 37-33 lead midway through the second period, the hosts looked capable of taking their game to the next level. Crucially, it was Plymouth who ran through the gears as James’ roster launched a terrific 14-4 tear to finish the half and pile the pressure on a nervy Newcastle.
To rub salt into Eagles’ wounds it was former favourite Mike Morsell who fired the visitors into a 47-41 interval lead with a buzzer-beating put-back off his own missed two.
Raiders’ mid-season signing then piled on the misery midway through the third quarter as he dunked his team into a 61-46 lead.
Morsell moved to 12 points on his first return to the North East since that 2020 exit but it was Plymouth’s versatility and strength in depth, rather than one player’s key contribution which was hurting the hosts most.
Had it not been for clutch threes from Edwards and Louis Sayers in the closing stages of a thoroughly chastening third period, then James’ men might have been out of sight.
Even so, the Eagles had it all to do as they trailed 68-54 heading into the final quarter.
Newcastle needed to find something special to fight their way past Plymouth and finish with a winning flourish.
However, eight missed free throws, 18 turnovers and too many wrong decisions told the story of a night to forget for Newcastle.