Recap

Teesside Lions 85 V Newcastle Eagles 69

Q1 – Lions 16 – Eagles 19

Some scrappy early moments saw both sides attacking the basket well but failing to make the shots count. When points did come, successful baskets for each team were quickly answered with another for the opposition, but the Eagles who seemed to surprise a strong Lions side managed to finish the quarter ahead by 3.

Q2 – Lions 45- Eagles 27

Teesside came out fired up for the 2nd and played a good, aggressive high press that the Eagles struggled to cope with and forced a number of turnovers which they took full advantage of to take a strong lead into half time and leave the Eagles with a lot to do.

Q3 – Lions 57 – Eagles 54

The half time break worked for the Eagles and they upped the intensity, pressed much higher and drove to the basket more regularly and with greater purpose and this quicker, harder approach was rewarded with a much improved team performance and an impressive 14 point individual haul contributing to a good quarter which had the Eagles very much back in the game.

Q4 – Lions 85 – Eagles 69

It was an evenly contested start to the 4th with the Eagles continuing the intensity of the 3rd, but unfortunately as in Q2 the Lions seemed to find another burst of energy and managed to stop any Eagles momentum and put them on the backfoot and under pressure. Ultimately the pressure told and the Lions played smart with quick breaks to increase the gap in scores and drain the belief from the Eagles and see the game out a little more comfortably than we would have liked.

We can take heart from Quarters 1 and 3 and the start of Quarter 4, learn from the rest and move on stronger together for the next game.

Player Contribution: #2 Joshua Wright

Josh Wight worked tirelessly throughout the game and showed great awareness of threats on defence and opportunities on offence. He tried to drive the team forward at every opportunity and chipped in with a personal high of 12 points