Eagles Round Off Perfect Weekend!!
Monday, 8th March, 2010
Newcastle Eagles 99 (34,57,74) (Jackson 24, Sullivan 23, Chapman 18)
Sheffield Sharks 79 (23,39,56) (Toney 22, Cook 14, Gorman 13)
The Newcastle Eagles were emphatic in victory in the biggest game of the BBL Championship season so far on Sunday, beating the Sheffield Sharks 99-79 in the North East. The win sends the Eagles to the top of the league, ahead of the Sharks, and means that they have secured the head-to-head between the teams.
They were led to their thirteenth consecutive win in all competitions by 24 points from Reggie Jackson, while Andrew Sullivan added 23. But possibly the key factor was that they kept Sheffield's Mike Cook down to just 14 points, while former Eagle Tafari Toney led them with 22 points. For the Sharks - who were the last team to beat the Eagles at the MetroRadio Arena back in November - it is their first defeat in ten league outings.
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The Eagles raced into an early lead and never looked back. 'Action' Jackson set the tone with a three-point play after little more than 10 seconds, and they went on to establish a 25-10 lead as he and Sullivan shared 6 straight points midway through the first. A massive first quarter saw the hosts leading 34-23, and, with the exception of one blip as Toney scored back-to-back baskets in the second stanza, they kept the lead in double-figures for the remainder of the game. Andrew Bridge's triple sparked an 11-2 push that made the score 49-32 and they went into the half-time break at 57-39 as Sullivan dunked on the buzzer.
With the first two scores of the third period Newcastle pushed the lead through the twenty mark, but the Sharks threatened a comeback as they scored the next nine points to make it 61-48. That run was halted by Charles Smith's trey and the Eagles went on to hold their visitors scoreless for three minutes, leaving it at 69-48 before they would score again with 3.14 left in the third. The lead stayed at around twenty points, until the Sharks made one final rally within the final five minutes of the game. Patton's three-pointer narrowed the deficit to 86-71, only for Jackson to respond in kind as the Eagles rattled off another 6 points before seeing the game out.
