Newcastle Eagles kept up the pressure on the Everton Tigers at the top of the BBL Championship table after an 83-77 come-from-behind victory over the Airwaves Plymouth Raiders at the Metro Radio Arena on Friday night.

The victory moves the Eagles into joint second place in the table with the Scottish Rocks.

The Eagles exploded out of the blocks, and took an early 16-7 lead, but 11 points from Andrew Lasker kickstarted the Raiders into a 19-4 burst to close out the opening period leading 20-26.

In the second quarter, the Raiders maintained their advantage as both teams traded baskets throughout the majority of the period as the visitors went into the locker rooms leading 40-51 at the half.

The second half saw the Raiders start out strongly and continued to hold an eleven-point advantage at 46-57 midway through the third period. The Eagles ended the quarter the stronger with a 13-6 burst to trim the deficit to four points at 59-63 going into the final stanza.

In the final stanza, the Eagles got back to a point at 64-65 off the back of a 5-0 tear midway through the quarter. Both teams traded baskets for the next few minutes, and the Raiders had a slender one-point advantage at 73-74.

The Eagles broke the game open thanks to a Reggie Jackson three-pointer with 2:54 remaining in the game to give the home side a 76-74 lead that they were not to relinquish from that point on. Despite a valiant effort from the visitors to overturn the deficit, the Eagles were able to secure the victory from the foul-line.

Trey Moore led all scorers with 33 points for the Eagles, while Lasker led the Raiders’ scoring with 20 points personal.