BBL Championship

Esh Group Eagles Newcastle 98 (26,49,63) (Smith 24, Defoe 20, Cooke 16, Martin 16)
Glasgow Rocks 70 (19,38,58) (Northern 17, Harrison 14, Marks 12, Urli 12)

The home side started the game strong and ran away to a 13-point lead already in the first quarter, as Malik Cooke made it 18-5 six minutes into the game.

Although Eagles maintained the lead throughout the rest of the half, Rocks began to threaten the hosts by closing the deficit to 26-28 in the second period after a jump-shot by Fran Urli.

However, Eagles restored the double-digit lead by the halftime break, as Darius Defoe finished the second quarter with a slam dunk, which put the Newcastle side up 49-38.

After seven points by Charles Smith in quick succession in the beginning of the third quarter, the gap separating the teams increased to a game-high of 18 points, as Eagles led 58-40.

Rocks struck back with force, cutting the deficit to five points before the end of the period, but the fourth quarter saw the hosts quickly regain a double-digit lead and cruise to an easy win.

Charles Smith paced the winners with 24 points, while Darius Defoe added 20 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Scott Martin and Malik Cooke had 16 points apiece, with the former also adding nine boards.

For Rocks, Daniel Northern had a team-high 17 points and added 17 rebounds, while EJ Harrison collected 14 points, but turned the ball over six times.