Bristol Flyers 72 (18,39,57) (Bland 19, Seilund 14, Herring 12)

Esh Group Eagles Newcastle leapfrogged Bristol Flyers in the BBL Championship table after a 98-72 win in the North East. The Flyers have started their debut BBL campaign well, but found that the reigning champions had too much for them – Newcastle making it three wins in a row.

Andrew Thomson led all scorers with 20 points for the hosts, while Rahmon Fletcher added 17 points and 8 assists, and Darius Defoe – who didn’t lead the Eagles for the first time in three games – had a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds.

The Flyers started the game much the better, taking an early 9-2 lead, but it was the only time that they would find themselves in the ascendancy. The Eagles produced a 10-2 run late in the first quarter to storm into a 23-18 lead that they would not relinquish.

Defoe helped the Eagles to a double-digit lead at 31-20 early in the second, and it stayed around that margin until the third quarter, when the visitors narrowed the gap to 55-50. A 14-4 surge midway through the period put Newcastle up 64-52, and they pushed on from there. The lead reached twenty points with the first score of the fourth quarter, and they held their visitors scoreless for a three minute spell to ensure there was no way back.