Esh Group Eagles Newcastle pulled away from Cheshire Phoenix to record an 85-99 road victory, on Sunday evening.

Scott Martin led the way with a 28-point haul to help his team get off to a winning start as all nine players got onto the scoresheet.

After a tightly contested first period, the Eagles began to edge away, putting together a 16-2 run across quarters to lead by 12 at 22-34. Cheshire scored seven straight either side of half-time to close within three, but would not get closer.

Defoe scored six points in a 13-2 run as Newcastle re-gained a double-digit advantage and a further 10-1 burst in the fourth would make sure of the result with the visitors ahead by as many as 21 with three minutes to go.

Josh Fox scored consecutive baskets to end the game, but Cheshire drop to 0-2 despite 27 points from Earl Brown and a further 21 points from Jamell Anderson on 8-of-9 shooting.

[Photo Credit: Mansoor Ahmed]