Esh Group Eagles Newcastle v Worcester Wolves
Where and when:
Sport Central, 7.30pm Friday 11 March
Summary:
Victory for Esh Group Eagles Newcastle on Friday could all but end any faint Worcester Wolves hopes of snatching the BBL Championship title.
The reigning champions occupy top spot, 10 points ahead of Wolves with two games in hand.
A win on Friday would secure the season head-to-head and surely leave Paul James’ men with too much to do, with Leicester Riders also ahead of them.
Wolves’ recent record against Eagles is better than most, however. The Worcester club won all three meetings between the teams last season, as well as inflicting Eagles’ first defeat of this campaign back in January.
Last time they met:
Worcester Wolves 88 Esh Group Eagles 94 (BBL Trophy Semi-Final second leg – Eagles won 167-154, University of Worcester Arena, 14 February 2016)
Form:
Eagles: WWWWLW
Wolves: WLLLWW
Three Points:
- This will be the fifth meeting between these teams this season
- Pavol Losonsky is nine points short of 1,000 in BBL Championship play
- Joe Chapman needs one more assist to reach 500 in the BBL Championship
What they say:
Eagles forward Andy Thomson: “They are a very good team and a very good coach in Paul James. He seems to have the knack against us of getting the right game-plan and getting the players to do what he wants them to do.
“We lost to them the second time we played them, straight after the Cup final, so we made adjustments for the Trophy Semi-Final. I think we got that game-plan correct and that showed in the result.
“But of course they had a little turmoil at the time, losing their point-guard after the first leg. They’ve got a new guy in now [Jordan Aaron], so we’ll be doing our scout report on him.
“I’ve not seen any video of him playing yet, his first game was last week, so I’m not sure what he’s like, but they have a solid core group of guys and I’m sure it’s going to be a tough game.”
