BBL Championship

Durham Wildcats 65 (Smith 49, Defoe 21, Chapman 18)

Newcastle Eagles 106 (Page 12, Keister 11, Guinane 11)

Despite having won three of their previous five games and facing a Newcastle Eagles side without key playmaker Damon Huffman, Durham Wildcats were routed in the north-east derby after two very special performances by Charles Smith (pictured) and Joe Chapman.

The former racked up an astonishing 49 points including a stunning eight three-pointers and also completed a double-double by amassing a fantastic 16 rebounds, whilst the latter accumulated a rare and outstanding triple-double of 18 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.

Despite lining up without the considerable influence of Huffman, the Eagles were like a runaway train during the early stages of the game, making a mockery of Wildcats’ recent red-hot form.

The visitors annihilated their shell-shocked hosts with a scorching and unstoppable offensive display during the opening ten minutes, pouring in a mammoth 40 points.

Durham meanwhile were stranded back on 13 points and bitterly regretting their catastrophic start which saw any chance of a shock win evaporate in double-quick time.

They did at least re-emerge for the second period with more vigour and recovered to outscore their opponents by 25-14.

But, normal service was resumed after the half-time break as the Eagles became rampant once more, scoring twice as many points as Durham, 34-17 to be precise to hammer home their advantage by moving 88-55 ahead.

The last quarter was little more than a canter for the Eagles who regained outright lead of the BBL Championship.