Recap
Newcastle Eagles 127 v Barrow Thorns 70
Eagles sitting mid table were looking to continue their good run and build on their great win away at top of the table Calderdale… The Thorns of Barrow were 2nd bottom coming into this game with only one win….
The game started with the Eagles flexing their defensive pressure and causing the visitors all sorts of problems… The boys in black totally dominated the period with an emphatic 38-15 score line… The scoring was lead by Ben Hogg who dominated the paint and Ross Leckenby who hit the last 9 points of the period…
The second quarter again saw the home team dominate the proceedings with the boys in blue scoring slightly better as Jeffrey hit some big shots from the perimeter and the period ended 31-21 making it 69-36 at the break…
The second half was a little less fluent for the Eagles as they struggled to maintain the high standards and concentration of the first 20 minutes… Coach Heath rang the changes to his starting 5… The Thorns of Barrow traded scores early on in the 3rd but the Eagles again went on a 9-2 run in the last 2 minutes to make it 92-50… (23-14)
The final 10 minutes saw the home team take great advantage of the shorthanded Thorns and scoring ran freely again with only Jeffrey really helping the visitors scoreboard tick over… The Eagles killed off the game with another comfortable quarter outscoring their visitors 34-20 closing the game out at 127-70…
Eagles U23 head coach Graham Heath said “We were buoyant after our great win last Saturday in Calderdale and we didn’t let the Barrow Thorns into the game at all… Our defensive pressure was good and this lead to a lot of good transition offence and scores… We did a great job on the boards, in the paint and shooting from the perimeter… We had 6 players in double digits and all but 1 player scored…So we head off to Tameside tomorrow full of confidence…”
Eagles Top Scorers- Themba Yabantu 26, Ben Hogg 22 and Alex Williams 19…
Next week the Eagles U23 plays away at Stockport Falcons tip off 6pm at The Ball Hall Reddish….
