Newcastle Eagles 99 (28,46,75) (Smith 24, Chapman 21, Bridge/Stewart 12)
Essex Pirates 72 (22,41,51) (Rodrigo 20, Metcalfe 15, Adu 11)

Newcastle Eagles kept themselves on the summit of the BBL Championship table thanks to a comfortable 99-72 victory over the Essex Pirates at the Metro Radio Arena on Sunday afternoon. Both sides traded baskets throughout the early exchanges, but it was the Eagles who held the advantage at the end of the opening period as a 7-2 close to the quarter gave the home side a 28-22 lead heading into the second period.

In the second quarter both sides continued to trade baskets for much of the quarter with the Eagles able to maintain their slender advantage throughout the quarter and took a 47-41 lead into the locker rooms at the half. In the second half the Pirates closed the deficit to four points at 50-46 early in the third quarter, but this spurred the Eagles on as they rattled off a 17-1 run to break the game open and take the score out to 67-47 towards the end of the third period. Two three- pointers from Joe Champman to close out the quarter gave the Eagles a comfortable 75-51 lead going into the final stanza.

In the final period the Pirates tried valiantly to close the gap but to no avail as the Eagles ran out comfortable winners. Charles Smith led all scorers in the game with 24 points for the Eagles, while Pablo Rodrigo led the scoring for the Pirates with 20 points personal.