An astonishing individual record-breaking performance from rookie professional guard Ray’Sean Taylor was at the heart of Newcastle Eagles emphatic 99-72 win over Surrey 89ers in the Vertu Arena on Friday night.
Taylor smashed the Newcastle club record for points in a game with fifty-one in a herculean effort that inspired his teammates to end a losing streak of six successive Championship defeats. It sends the Eagles into the international break in good heart as they got back to winning ways.
Naturally Taylor was delighted with his own performance but just as importantly he reflected on the teams vital much-needed win after a disappointing run of results and bad loss at Manchester 105-79 in midweek in his after-game comments.
“It was a hard two days just because we knew we didn’t put out the best of ourselves in that display and we let Manchester get to us. But’s the best thing about basketball. You’ve always got a chance to bounce back.”
“So, coming out here getting a win in front of our home fans was important for us going into the international break. Surrey have three explosive guards so you want to make sure you keep them as low points wise as you can make it as tough for them as you can.”
“We did that and then we were able to get out and run get everyone involved and it was a great team win in the end.”
The defensive effort all game but particularly in the first half where Eagles led fifty-one to twenty-nine set the platform for Taylor to explode individually on the 89ers. He became the first Newcastle player to net fifty plus points in a game as well as taking the SLB Championship record.
“It’s something that I will always remember it was a great performance. I hold myself to a high standard. I knew I didn’t put out the basketball I wanted to the other day, so it was just important to come out here and have a good performance and it ended up being historic.”
Taylor’s incredible points tally eclipsed the great Charles Smith’s forty-nine-point effort way back in February 2013 as he added his name to the Eagles legendary ranks.
“I just got into a rhythm, we had Terrell Burden out, so more was asked of me for today and I just wanted to step up to the challenge and make a difference to help us get a win that was much needed.”
“We needed to get back to the displays we put in during December, and tonight was the first way to step towards that. Hopefully when we come back from the break, we can keep that going. Coming off a win you obviously want to play again.”
“But we’ve got to take the rest and be ready for when we come back because it’s going to be a gruelling two or three months as we head towards the end of the season.”
No-one that was in the Vertu Arena and privileged to see Taylor’s brilliantly executed effort is ever likely to forget it. It certainly whets the appetite for the remainder of the campaign and hopefully can be the catalyst for an Eagles upsurge in performances and results.
