BBL Championship
Esh Group Eagles Newcastle 116 (38,54,82) (Martin 34, Parks 23, Fletcher 21)
Cheshire Phoenix 93 (23,54,73) (Brown 24, May-Thompson 22, Eaves 18)
Esh Group Eagles Newcastle extended their lead at the top of the BBL Championship after beating Cheshire Phoenix 116-93.
Three Eagles players registered double-doubles with Scott Martin leading the way with 34 points, 11 rebounds as well as five assists. Rahmon Fletcher added 21 points to go with 11 assists and Orlan Jackman had 12 points and 13 boards.
Newcastle now have a 15-2 record as they continue to build momentum ahead of next Sunday’s BBL Cup Final.
Both teams found their range from downtown early on with the game tied at 10 before the Eagles soon broke clear with a dominant 16-2 spell to lead by 17.
Newcastle were still in command at 48-32 but the visitors began to edge away at the lead and Earl Brown scored the final five points of the half to cap a 15-2 close which tied the game going into the interval.
The game was tied again at 69, but Newcastle put in a strong finish to the period with Fletcher scoring the final five points to push his side ahead by nine points.
There was no let-up in the final quarter as the Eagles continued to stretch away before completing the victory.
Earl Brown led Phoenix with 24 points as they drop to 4-11 having earlier announced that Josh Wilcher is ruled out for the rest of the season.