Recap

Newcastle Eagles 82 v Leicester Riders 50

Head Coach –  Darius Defore / Assistant Coach –  Dominic Taylor

Starting 5 –  Luke Tucker, Alfie Rhodes, Tyler Cadete,  Arran Dower and Billy Crawshaw

Newcastle Eagles welcomed the Leicester Riders today for their first meeting of the season.

Leicester Riders won the tip however a quick foul sent Billy Crawshaw to the free throw line for the first points of the game.  End to end play followed and the Newcastle Eagles defensive skills were on show. The next Eagles points came from a corner 3 from Luke Tucker, who is returning to the team after emergency surgery, followed by another from Billy Crawshaw.  Arran Dower was next to grace the score sheet after an assist from Luke Tucker.  Not to be outdone on the 3 point tally Billy Crawshaw added one of his own. The trio of Crawshaw, Tucker and Dower took control of the quarter and Newcastle’s defence frustrated Leicester who ventured into foul trouble.  Tyler Cadete added his name to the score sheet, along with Harry Merrifield and the quarter ended 26-10 in Newcastle’s favour

The second quarter opened with a big block from Lewis Pinnock denying Leicester a basket.  Leonardo Wilson got his name onto the score sheet for the first Eagles points of the quarter.  Another Leicester foul saw Lewis Pinnock stepping up to the free throw line taking full advantage. End to end play once again followed with baskets being denied at both ends.  Lewis Pinnock broke the scoring drought adding another 2 points to his tally, and Luke Tucker added to more.  Harry Merrifield found himself on the free throw line addling more points to the Eagles score line.  The defensive skills of Luke Tucker were on show stopping the inbounding ball from Leicester, winning a tug of war with Leicester’s big man and then sprinting back to the Leicester end for a big block under the Leicester basket.  Leicester’s foul trouble sent Leo Glaholm to the free throw line for his first points of the game however Leicester did answer this with a basket of their own.  The quarter ended 42-22

The second half opened with 2 quick baskets from Arran Dower and once again the trio of Tucker, Dower and Crawshaw took control.  Harry Merrifield joined the party, and the terrible trio became a fearsome foursome.  A steal from Luke Tucker sent the ball back down to the Eagles end for 2 points by Arran Dower.  Leicester seemed unable to find an answer to this strong Eagles team, their first points coming from the free throw line.  Leicester did go on a small run adding some quick baskets to their tally, but the Eagles stepped up and Alfie Rhodes sent to the ball down court to Luke Tucker who provided an assist to Billy Crawshaw for 2 points, he quickly followed this up with another 2-point basket.  Leicester found themselves on the free throw line, but they were not able to take full advantage.  Harry Merrifield added 2 more and Leicester’s run was at an end.  A further assist from Luke Tucker to Harry Merrifield this time led to a further 2 points.   Leicester finally added to their scoresheet and the quarter ended 61-35

Lewis Pinnock and Joseph Flint joined forces to open the scoring in the last quarter with Joseph providing the assist for Lewis to score 2 points.  Alfie Rhodes added 2 more points keeping his nerve on the free throw line.  Billy Crawshaw added more points to his impressive tally as the Eagles kept up the pressure on Leicester despite their sizable lead.  Arran Dower made Leicester pay for some lax defence at the Eagles basket with 2 points added to the score line.  Leicester finally found their way through the Eagles defence but unfortunately for them it was too little too late.  An And 1 Basket saw Arran Dower on the free throw line taking full advantage. Quickly followed by Leonardo Wilson adding a basket to the tally.  Leicester found themselves in foul trouble once again and the Eagles made them pay for every misstep.  The game ended 82-50 in your Eagles favour.

This newly formed Under 14s team is now 2 and 0 on their journey in the Norther Premier League and they are looking forward to their first away game of the season next weekend when they travel to Leeds to face City of Leeds Gold.