BBL Championship
Esh Group Eagles Newcastle 103 (27,57,78) (Jackman 32, Martin 19, Defoe 17)
Plymouth Raiders 93 (24,50,76) (Nicholas 26, Grady 24, Dixon 19)
Esh Group Eagles Newcastle bounced back from their first defeat last week to beat Plymouth Raiders 103-93, on Friday evening.
The home side were again without Deondre Parks, but Orlan Jackman stepped up with 32 points with seven 3-pointers to lead his side to victory.
Scott Martin and Darius Defoe added 19 and 17 points respectively to help the Eagles claim their fifth league success of the season.
The Eagles went on a 9-2 run in the first to take control in a high-scoring start to the game before the visitors closed the gap.
Both teams continued to trade blows in the second but it was Newcastle who finished the stronger of the two with Jackman’s tip-in making it a seven-point game at the break.
Plymouth managed to stay with their opponents but were unable to regain their lead from the first period but did cut the gap to two points ahead of the final period.
The Raiders did briefly take the lead early in the fourth and were still in contention down 90-88 before an 8-0 run capped by a three from Jackman proved crucial for the Eagles.
Donte Nicholas led the Raiders with 26 points and 13 rebounds and the two teams will meet again in Devon on Sunday.