BBL Championship
Leeds Force 86 (20,43,69) (Sanders 31, Sandoval 16, Marsden/Harris 11)
Esh Group Eagles Newcastle 91 (18,43,57) (Fletcher 28, Parks 21, Jackman 13)

Esh Group Eagles Newcastle battled back from a 12-point deficit at the end of the third to beat Leeds Force 86-91 on the road, and remain top of the BBL Championship.

The visitors surged ahead to take a 69-57 advantage into the final period following a run of four consecutive 3-pointers.

However, Fab Flournoy’s side showed their resolve and racked up 34 points to pull off a comeback victory to improve to 11-1.

Rahmon Fletcher netted 28 points and was supported by Deondre Parks’ 21 points with three other players in double figures.

The home side signalled their intent early on and after edging the opening period, they moved ahead by six during the second period. Parks scored 11 points in a row to put the Eagles up five, but the two teams went into the break level.

The game was still tied at 57 before Force connected from downtown four times in a row to go up by 12. Newcastle began to make their move with an 8-1 run to close to within three and tied the game at 81 with three minutes still remaining.

Fletcher pushed Newcastle ahead only for Clayfell Harris to reply, but the Eagles produced a decisive 8-0 run to secure victory.

Jermaine Sanders led Force’s resilient effort with 31 points but his side now drop to 2-6 in the league.