London Lions 56 (5,26,46) (Cook 25, Taylor 12, Sullivan 7)
Esh Group Eagles Newcastle 69 (20,45,55) (Defoe 19, Fletcher 13, Jones 10)

Esh Group Eagles Newcastle stayed at the top of the BBL Championship ladder after extending their winning streak to six games with a 69-56 road win against the previously undefeated London Lions at the Copper Box Arena.

The visitors drained the energy from the home crowd right from the get-go with an excellent defensive display in the opening quarter, allowing Lions to muster together only five points for a 20-5 lead after the first 10 minutes of play.

Eagles’ advantage grew to 45-26 at the halftime break, but Lions started to claw back into the game after the interval. Led by Lovell Cook, who had a game-high 25 points, Lions went on a 10-0 spurt to cut the gap to single digits with a couple of minutes remaining in the third quarter.

However, Eagles swiftly restored a double-digit advantage in the fourth period and cruised home with the win behind a double-doubles of Darius Defoe and Rahmon Fletcher. Defoe scored 19 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, while Fletcher added 13 points and 10 assists.