The weekend of January 20-22 saw a total of eight BBL Championship games take place, starting with the Mersey Tigers (2-10 going into the weekend) against the Leicester Riders (7-2) and league-leading Newcastle Eagles (11-1) hosting the Sheffield Sharks (6-6).

The round was tipped off by the Tigers, who were up against one of the league’s top teams in the Riders. The 85-66 away blowout by Leicester was a poor shooting performance by both sides, who hit a combined 9-of-36 three-point attempts, the Tigers also shooting an abysmal 50% from the free-throw line – I coach under-14s who can hit more than that!

For the Tigers, Morakinyo Williams recorded a double-double to finish with 10 points, 12 rebounds, two assists and a block; David Aliu was close with 15 points, nine rebounds and 1 assist, as was Kris Douse and his contribution of 10 points, nine rebounds and four assists. For the Riders, Bradd Weirzbicki led the way with 20 points and also added two rebounds, two assists and a steal; Cameron Rundles finished with 19 points, three rebounds and two assists; Andrew Sullivan had a double-double by grabbing 10 rebounds along with 13 points, two assists and two steals; and Ayron Hardy filled the stat sheet with 11 points, seven rebounds, six steals and a couple of assists.

The Newcastle Eagles took advantage of a depleted Sheffield Sharks side missing Jimmy Langhurst and Justin Dobbins only able to play nine minutes. Darius Defoe finished with 14 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks; Charles Smith had another double-double finishing with 15 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three steals; Andrew Thomson finished with 14 points, eight rebounds and two assists; while Paul Gause contributed 18 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals. The Sharks had a solid contribution from Mike Tuck: He finished with 12 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and a steal. Nate Reinking led with 18 points, two rebounds, three assists and two steals, and Olu Babalola contributed 11 points, four rebounds, two assists and four steals.

Saturday saw the hosting Plymouth Raiders dominate the Guildford Heat, 98-68, behind 27 points, three rebounds and three assists from Jeremy Bell. Three players finished with double-double, starting with Lehmon Colbert’s 11 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and a block. Paul Williams 19 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks, Anthony Rowe 10 points, 12 rebounds and two assists. The Raiders managed to outrebound the Heat, 46-23. For Guildford, Mike Martin finished with 20 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals; Shaun Durant finished with 13 points, four rebounds, three assists and a steal; and Tayo Ogedengbe had 10 points and five rebounds. The Heat shot just 1-of-10 on three-point attempts but did manage to get 10 steals.

Two local teams faced off when the Leicester Riders took on the Milton Keynes Lions in a close game, with the Lions coming out victorious, 77-75, thanks to a three-pointer from Adrien Sturt with four seconds to play. Demarius Bolds helped his side to victory by scoring 19 points to go with six rebounds, two assists and five steals; he did, however, commit five turnovers. Daniel Northern was a rebounding machine as usual going off for 16 points, 18 rebounds and three steals. Howard Crawford contributed 15 points and four rebounds. The Lions also welcomed back Robert Youngblood, who had a solid debut with two points, seven rebounds and three assists. Other than that final three by Sturt, this game was again poor from long range, with a combined 6-of-29 attempts going through. Over two games this weekend, the Riders shot just 6-of-27 from beyond the arc.

The league leaders were not so easy to take down, as they came back from a 10-point third- quarter deficit to outscore their opponents in the final quarter 31-19 and take the game, 101-94. The Eagles used the combo of Charles Smith and Joe Chapman to score at will: These two combined for 52 of the team’s points. Joe also added two rebounds and six assists while Charles added two rebounds and seven assists; Paul Gause finished with 12 points, six rebounds, three assists and a steal; while Andrew Thomson contributed 17 points and five rebounds. The Wildcats put up a valiant effort led by Mike Capocci’s 27 points, nine rebounds, three assists and one steal. Ralph Bucci had a double-double finishing with 11 points and 10 (!) assists plus five rebounds; Mario Flaherty dominated the glass to grab 15 rebounds and 18 points; while Paul Elderkin contributed 16 points, four assists and a steal.

The Worcester Wolves kept the pressure on the league leaders by collecting another valuable win, this time they defeated the Cheshire Jets, 97-87. The Wolves were led by a ‘line of the night’ performance from Sherrad Prezzie-Blue, who finished with 24 points, 10 assists and four rebounds while Tommy Freeman added 19 points (including five threes) and six assists. A quiet night from Richie Gordon increased the play of Arnas Kaslauskas and the Lithuanian had a near double-double with 14 points, nine rebounds and three assists. The Wolves used their 46.6% from behind the three-point line to build their lead while also hitting 64% from the field. The Jets shot just 49% in comparison, getting 24 points, five rebounds, one assist, one block and two steals from Matt Schneck. Bill Cole chipped in 19 points, six rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block while Adam Brown also had 19 points to go with six rebounds, two assists and a steal.

The final day of the weekend saw the Tigers play for the second time, travelling to Scotland to take on the Glasgow Rocks. The Tigers managed to collect their first away win, 89-75, behind a brilliant performance from Myles Hesson: 16 points, 11 rebounds, 1 assists, three steals and block. David Aliu was consistent as ever, contributing 15 points, six rebounds and five assists while Devan Bailey added 11 points, eight assists and four rebounds to go with three steals and a block. The Tigers outscored their opponents 27-17 in the final quarter. For the Rocks, Mychal Green finished with 15 points, eight rebounds and three assists. Gareth Murray had 14 points and six rebounds while Danny Huffor continues to fill in for E.J. Harrison by adding 14 points, two rebounds, two assists and four steals.

The Raiders and Jets also both played for the second time but with the Raiders having both home court advantage and an additional day’s rest. That rest showed as the Raiders took a close game 81-75. Jeremy Bell again scorched the opponent to the tune of 26 points, six assists and three steals. Lehmon Colbert finished with 19 points, six rebounds and three assists while Michael Ojo added 14 points and four rebounds. For the Jets, Schneck dominated the boards, collecting 16 points to go with 21 points and two assists. Adam Brown scored 25 points while also collecting four boards, dishing four assists and adding a steal, Bill Cole finished with 17 rebounds, 13 points, five assists and five blocks as the Jets outrebounded their opponents, 53-40. Despite dominating the glass, the Jets could not stop the Raiders in the second half as they went down 16-13 in the third quarter and 27-18 in the fourth.

The Raiders continued the nationwide inability to score from behind the three line, as they finished a mere 3-of-22 from deep and a three-point percentage of 13.6%.

That wraps up the weekend’s BBL games here in the UK. Check back soon for more English Basketball news.

Sam Chadwick is the co-head coach of the Solent Kestrels U14 basketball team, along with dividing the remainder of his time among an assistant quantity surveyor job, university studies and sportswriting. Chadwick is now a contributor at BBLfans.com, and you can follow him on Twitter at @chadwick9.

This past weekend saw one of the many highlights on the BBL Calendar, when the BBL Cup Final took place at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham. That game featured two of the league’s top teams when the first-place Newcastle Eagles (11-1) and the no. 5 Plymouth Raiders (6-2) went head to head.

The game started with Charles Smith dominating the game, going off for 21 points in the first quarter alone and on track to set a new BBL Cup points record (more on this later). Smith had 13 points within the first seven minutes and showed no signs of letting up. Charles and his 21 points outscored the Raiders 21-20 and the Eagles took a 15-point lead.

The second quarter saw the game even out with the Eagles outscoring the Raiders 28-26 and going into the half-time with a dominating 63-46 lead. Lehmon Colbert led the second quarter surge by the Raiders, scoring 12 points from the field, while Jeremy Bell added seven points from the field, including one three-point shot.

Half-time featured a performance by the BBL Cheerleaders and the Dunk Contest, which was won by Nathan Schall of the Milton Keynes Lions. (See photo above and videos below.)

The second half saw the Eagles again outscore the Raiders with a 31-28 advantage in the third quarter, and a combined 94-54 score line. For the Eagles, six unanswered points from beyond the three-point line helped them maintain their lead. For the Raiders, Anthony Rowe and Paul Williams both scored six points from the field while last year’s MVP was 0-of-2 from the field. Smith eventually tied the Cup Final record for points with 35 at the 79-58 mark and broke the record moments later.

The fourth quarter saw no real comeback from the Raiders with both Williams and Michael Ojo fouling out while the Raiders gave up a combined 23 fouls across the four quarters. The fourth saw the Eagles again outscore the Raiders, 21-20, while Smith chipped in his final few points, setting the BBL Cup final record at an outstanding 39 points; he also added six rebounds, two blocks and hit five from deep, going for 71% on three-point shooting while also managing 64% shooting from the field and 86% from the charity stripe.

Other major contributors for the Eagles included Paul Gause (24 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals); Andrew Bridge (16 points, four rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block); Joe Chapman (15 points, four rebounds, three assists and a steal); and Andrew Thomson (13 points, four rebounds and one assist).

For the Raiders, it was Colbert who contributed significantly with 25 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Jeremy Bell put up 23 points, four rebounds and one assist; he did however commit six turnovers. Rowe was the final Raiders player to score 20 points or more, finishing with 20 exactly along with eight rebounds and one assist.

Sam Chadwick is the co-head coach of the Solent Kestrels U14 basketball team, along with dividing the remainder of his time among an assistant quantity surveyor job, university studies and sportswriting. Chadwick is now a contributor at BBLfans.com, and you can follow him on Twitter at @chadwick9.

Below runs everything you’ll want to know about the BBL Cup, including the match preview courtesy BBLFans.co.uk, weekly roundup by BallinEurope man in the UK Sam Chadwick, and naturally YouTubes. Jolly good!

(BBL Fans) – Newcastle will go into the contest as favourites … The pressure has been on Fab Flournoy’s men to perform this season, having failed to win a trophy last season for the first time since the 2003-04 season, back when the Plymouth Raiders were not even in the BBL – showing the contrasting history of the two clubs in this league. The Eagles have only won the BBL Cup once before, in a 2005-06 when they captured all four trophies, so they will hope victory in Birmingham will inspire another ‘clean sweep’.

Plymouth have a relatively short history in the BBL compared to some of their rivals but will be competing in their third final with mixed feelings. Current coach Gavin Love will have fond memories of Plymouth’s only title success in the BBL, having played a part in the side that stunned Newcastle in the 2007 BBL Trophy Final. However, the Plymouth faithful will not want to revisit the 2009 Cup final: The Raiders were on the wrong end of a 103-49 demolition as the Everton Tigers claimed their first piece of silverware.

Flournoy has retained the dangerous Joe Chapman and Charles Smith as well as the likes of Darius Defoe and Andrew Bridge, which has given Newcastle a slight advantage in the early stages of the season as they have not had to integrate as many new players into the club’s system. With the signings that were made, Paul Gause is already recognised as one of the quickest players in the league, and Andrew Thomson arrived from Mersey as one of the key members of their treble-winning season last year.

It’s not surprising to see Chapman as one of the leading scorers in the league, having notched up 162 points so far at an average of 20.3 points per game. Smith is equally capable of a big game performance, while Defoe (10 rebounds per game) and Thomson (7.9 rpg) have produced several double-double performances.

Plymouth are still alive in both knockout competitions, as they take on the Milton Keynes Lions in the semi-final stage of the BBL Trophy, making another final showdown with the Eagles a possibility. The Raiders have taken time to settle in this season with new signings such as the returning Anthony Martin, big men Paul Williams and Tomas Janusauskas from Sheffield and Guildford, respectively, and Michael Ojo and Ben Smith as the other Americans.

Smith’s stint in Plymouth didn’t last long and Love swooped for last season’s MVP Jeremy Bell, who joined Great Britain’s James Jones as a late arrival. Lehmon Colbert was one of the first players signed up this season which emphasized the impact he made in the league last season while captain Anthony Rowe returned for a third season. Plymouth will be buoyed on by a convincing semifinal victory over the Worcester Wolves in which Bell found his A-game with 33 points in a pivotal first leg. The Raiders are averaging fewer than 80 points per game in the league and this may need to improve in the final to combat the attacking Eagles.

Newcastle eased to a 90-67 home victory over Plymouth in the Championship in November on a night when Bell failed to produce his best, shooting just 23%. If the American plays well, Plymouth will have a chance to repeat their shock victory over Newcastle in 2007 to add a second BBL title to their cabinet. As intriguing as the battle between Chapman and Bell might be, watch out for the front-court battle between the duo of Thomson and Defoe against Rowe and Williams. Newcastle have made a strong start to the season and will start as favourites but Plymouth are building momentum and people should write them off at their peril.

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The weekend of January 6-8 saw a large number of BBL games take place with a total of seven games over three days including three each on both Friday and Sunday, while the main day of the weekend saw just one game.

The weekend was tipped off by the Mersey Tigers losing a close game to the visiting Milton Keynes Lions, 87-80. The Tigers saw some positives, however, in the play of Kris Douse, whose stat line looked a lot like a ‘line of the night’: 34 points, 11 rebounds, two assists and three steals while hitting 62% from the field. The rest of the Mersey lineup was relatively unimpressive, though, with David Aliu posting 15 points, three rebounds and two assists while Myles Hesson contributed six points, six rebounds and three assists. For the Lions, it was Howard Crawford leading the scoring with 20 points while adding three rebounds and four assists. Demarius Bolds of course did a bit of everything, finishing with 18 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals, while Daniel Northern continued his solid rebounding numbers by grabbing 13 boards to go with 12 points. For the Lions, six players had over 10 points.

Up next were the front-running Newcastle Eagles going up against the Glasgow Rocks; the Eagles defended home court with a 97-71 victory behind a 28-point, five-assist, two-rebound performance from Charles Smith. Darius Defoe added 21 points, nine rebounds and four steals, while Andrew Thomson contributed a double-double to finish with 17 points, 14 rebounds and three assists. For the Rocks, a pretty disappointing offensive performance saw no player scoring over 17 points; Glasgow’s most impressive players were Mychal Green and his 17 points, five rebounds and seven assists against six turnovers; Andrew Wedemire with a double-double of his own finishing with 10 points and 11 rebounds; and solid Gareth Murray, finishing with 15 points, eight rebounds and three assists.

The Cheshire Jets saw Matt Schneck return on Friday for their matchup at the Sheffield Sharks; unfortunately for him, his team could not come away with the victory, eventually going down 90-77. Matt did however finish with a double-double, collecting 13 rebounds and 22 points. Adam Brown added 21 points and five rebounds while Bill Cole, who performed magnificently during Schneck’s injury, finished with 19 points, seven rebounds and three assists. The Sharks were without Justin Dobbins but instead received significant contributions from Olu Babalola, who finished with 27 points, six rebounds, two assists, two blocks and two steals. Nate Reinking finished with 25 points, five rebounds and five assists while player-coach Atiba Lyons added an all-around effort of 13 points, six rebounds, two assists, two blocks and a steal.

Saturday saw the Durham Wildcats taking on the Leicester Riders and suffering a 92-79 home defeat. In the loss, the Wildcats had 18 points, two rebounds, three assists and three steals from Paul Elderkin while Mario Flaherty contributed 17 points and eight rebounds and Mike Capocci added 12 points, eight rebounds and four assists. For the Riders, Bradd Weirzbicki led the way with 18 points, three rebounds and two assists; Ayron Hardy continued his impressive rookie season in the BBL with a 17-point, six-rebound, three-assist performance; and Andrew Sullivan saw his numbers come back up to normal levels by chipping in 16 points, four rebounds and three assists. For the Riders, five players scored in double-digits.

On Sunday, the Guildford Heat continued their solid start to 2012 with a three-point victory at Cheshire, finishing the game with a final score-line of 92-89. Tayo Ogedengbe led the Heat with 32 points, eight rebounds, two assists and five steals in what was the ‘Line of the night’. Martelle Mclemore added a double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds while Julius Joseph finished with 16 points, five rebounds and an assist. For Cheshire, Bill Cole had a near triple-double, finishing with 19 points, 12 rebounds and nine blocks! Adam Brown finished with 23 points, four assists, six steals and one rebound, while Matthew Schneck in his second game back finished with a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds.

The MK Lions lost a close one in visiting league leaders Newcastle Eagles, 96-91. For the Lions, it was again Bolds, whose solid play continues even against the top of the league: Demarius finished with 29 points, five rebounds, two assists and eight steals. Northern cemented himself as one of the league’s best rebounders by grabbing 12 boards to go with 14 points, two assists, two blocks and a steal for good measure. Howard Crawford also added 14 points, eight rebounds and two assists for the Lions. For the Eagles, it was Charles Smith who finished a solid weekend with the win, putting up 20 points and four rebounds while centre Darius Defoe scored 16 points, added six rebounds and blocked one shot. Lastly for the Eagles is Andrew Thomson, who finished strong with a double-double of 16 points and 14 rebounds. The Eagles had six players score over 10 and shot 53% from the field.

Finally, the Plymouth Raiders took a 101-84 home victory over Mersey. Lehmon Colbert had a phenomenal game, going off for 21 points, 11 rebounds and dishing out four assists while collecting two steals. Anthony Rowe was the second player to finish with a double-double in adding 17 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks while Paul Williams came close to becoming a third by adding 16 points and nine rebounds of his own. The game was solid for the Raiders as they beat the Tigers in most statistical categories including rebounding (43-34), assists (20- 9), and blocks (7- 0), while giving up fewer turnovers (12 to Mersey’s 13) and committing fewer fouls (17 to 24). As you can see, it was a bit of a shocker for the Tigers. David Aliu top-scored with 17 points and five rebounds, Devan Bailey contributed 16 points, four rebounds and two assists, while Jose Djado added 12 points, four rebounds and two assists

That wraps up the weekend’s BBL games here in the UK; check back soon for more English Basketball news.
Sam Chadwick is the co-head coach of the Solent Kestrels U14 basketball team, along with dividing the remainder of his time among an assistant quantity surveyor job, university studies and sportswriting. Chadwick is now a contributor at BBLfans.com, and you can follow him on Twitter at @chadwick9.

The Worcester Wolves and Newcastle Eagles headed into 2012 as the top two teams in the British Basketball League with 9-3 and 9-1 records respectively. This past week saw five games played, starting off with the Wolves hosting the Leicester Riders, while the first game of 2012 saw the Guildford Heat take a win against fellow bottom-dwellers Durham Wildcats.

The first game of the week was played last Wednesday when the Worcester Wolves went up against the Leicester Riders. Clearly the Riders had something to prove, taking the game in dominating fashion, 99-75 behind a 29-point, 11-rebound double-double from Cameron Rundles, also adding five assists. Bradd Weirzbicki backed him up with 23 points, one rebound and four assists, while the consistent Ayron Hardy had a near double-double, finishing with 15 points and nine rebounds on 63% shooting. For the Wolves, it was big man Richie Gordon continuing his outstanding play to finish with 18 points, eight rebounds, one assist and a couple of steals. Tommy Freeman finished with 16 points and six rebounds but was just 1-of-7 from three-point range. Arnas Kaslauskas contributed 13 points, two rebounds and one assist for the Wolves.

Thursday had the Raiders taking on the Mersey Tigers, with the Raiders notching a rather convincing 102-82 victory as seven players finished in double figures for the victors, who used 10 steals to help fuel their high-scoring run. James Jones led with 18 points, seven rebounds and five assists; Anthony Rowe added 18 points and five rebounds; while Paul Williams finished with 14 points, nine rebounds and two steals. For the Tigers, it was youngster Myles Hesson who led the scoring with 23 points, additionally contributing five rebounds against five turnovers. Kris Douse finished with 21 points, eight rebounds and three assists while Matthew Otten supplied 14 points and six rebounds. The Tigers finished this game with 22 turnovers and the Raiders used this to their advantage.

Friday night saw the Glasgow Rocks get back on the winning track with a 72-64 victory over the Sheffield Sharks. Mychal Green didn’t score in volumes this game but did finish with a nice all-around stat-line of 15 points, seven rebounds, four assists, a block and a steal. Danny Huffor finished as the high scorer contributing 19 points, also chipping in nine boards, two assists and three steals; centre Deaundre Cranson finished with 14 points, six rebounds, three assists and an impressive four blocks. The Sharks lost this game despite dominating the boards 55-33 and got a 21-point, four-rebound outing from Nate Reinking. Mike Tuck added a double-double of 10 points and 16 rebounds while Justin Dobbins finished with 15 points, nine rebounds, one assist and a steal.

The Worcester Wolves regrouped after Wednesday’s loss to the Riders with a 103-92 victory over the Milton Keynes Lions. For the losing side, it was Demarius Bolds who continued to light it up finishing with 33 points, three rebounds, two assists and a steal, Daniel Northern finished with 20 rebounds! To go with nine points and three blocks… WOW! 20 rebounds! That’s almost half of his team’s total 44! Nuno Pedroso added 21 points, three rebounds and six assists. For the Wolves, Richie Gordon had a solid double-double of 29 points, 16 rebounds, two assists and a couple of steals; Tommy Freeman regained his shooting form to finish with 26 points to go with seven rebounds and two assists while Sherrad Prezzie-Blue double-doubled himself, with 16 points and 10 assists plus five boards and a steal. The Wolves used solid free-throw shooting in this game, drawing 23 fouls and shooting 24-of-26 on free-throw attempts.

Sunday featured the first game of 2012 as the Guildford Heat played the Durham Wildcats in a bottom-of-the-table clash. This game saw the Heat start the year off with a win despite losing 12 in a row before the Xmas break. The Heat lead from the get-go and were up 31-15 after the first. Martelle McLemore high-scored with 30 points while Tayo Ogedengbe and Mike Martin added 21 and 17, respectively. For the Wildcats, it was a low-scoring affair with Galvin finishing with 19 points, Mario Flaherty 12 and Ralph Bucci 10.

That wraps up the weekend’s BBL games here in the UK; check back soon for more English Basketball news.

Sam Chadwick is the co-head coach of the Solent Kestrels U14 basketball team, along with dividing the remainder of his time among an assistant quantity surveyor job, university studies and sportswriting. Chadwick is now a contributor at BBLfans.com, and you can follow him on Twitter at @chadwick9.

The BBL season has finished for Christmas in what was a dramatic weekend of action. The Worcester Wolves went undefeated to enter the break atop the table, as the Newcastle Eagles lost for the first time, while the one winless team ended their losing streak with a 1-1 weekend.

The first game of the weekend saw the Guildford Heat win for the first time this season. On an away trip to the Mersey Tigers, the Heat took an 82-76 victory over the Tigers behind 22 points, six rebounds and two assists from Mike Martin. Tayo Ogedengbe contributed 18 points, eight rebounds and an assist while Martelle Mclemore finished with 18 points, five rebounds and one assist. For the Tigers, Kris Douse led the way with a 20-point, 10-rebound double-double to go with one assist and four turnovers while young star Myles Hesson finished with 19 points, six rebounds and five turnovers. David Aliu was the final contributor for the Tigers, chipping in 10 points, four rebounds and two assists.

The Newcastle Eagles saw their undefeated streak ended by the Worcester Wolves, who used a 43-point final quarter to get the win after being down by nine at the half. The Eagles were led by a valiant effort from Charles Smith who finished with 37 points, seven rebounds and one assist, Andrew Thomson contributed a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds to go with four assists while Joe Chapman added 17 points, four rebounds and six assists against six turnovers. The Eagles shot 39% from the field and 61% from the free-throw line; by comparison, the Wolves shot 44% from the field and 70% from the line. The Wolves were led by 33 points from Tommy Freeman plus eight rebounds and two assists; centre Richie Gordon had a double-double of his own with 20 points, 12 rebounds and a couple of assists; while Sherrad Prezzie-Blue was the Wolves’ second-highest scorer finishing with 23 points, three rebounds and two assists.

The Sheffield Sharks managed to control Demarius Bolds and the Milton Keynes Lions Friday night on route to an 85-66 victory. Justin Dobbins had a solid stat line for the victors, finishing with 18 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks. Jimmy Langhurst started his big weekend by contributing 28 points, six rebounds and two assists, while Mike Tuck had a near double-double of 11 points and nine rebounds. For the Lions, it was Demarius, held back from his usual scoring pace to finish with a respectable 18 points and four rebounds against six turnovers. Stefan Gill added 15 points, five rebounds and three assists, while Daniel Northern finished with seven points and 10 rebounds.

Saturday saw the Sharks play for the second consecutive night and finish with a second consecutive win, defeating the Durham Wildcats 90-71 in County Durham. Justin Dobbins again finished with a double-double: This one 22 points and 18 rebounds to go with two blocks. Jimmy Langhurst continued his great weekend with 27 points, six rebounds and three assists, while Ola Babalola added 15 points, one rebound and three assists. For the Wildcats, Mike Capocci top-scored with 18 points in addition to a couple rebounds and a couple of assists while Ralph Bucci had near triple-double numbers, finishing with 14 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. Mario Flaherty added 14 points, six rebounds and three assists in the loss.

Worcester Wolves also played for the second time Saturday and, after their victory over first-place, Newcastle looked poised to take over the BBL Championship. An 87-65 victory at home against the Glasgow Rocks saw them grab that top spot behind an impressive double-double from Richie Gordon, who finished with 18 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and three steals. Tommy Freeman again helped lead the charge with 23 points, seven rebounds and an assist while back-up centre Arnas Kaslauskas finished with 16 points, four rebounds and three assists. For the visitors, it seemed that after a brilliant run which includedNovember player of the month honors that Mychal Green may have slowed down: He finished with 13 points, five rebounds and four assists. Andrew Wedemire led the Rocks with 18 points and eight rebounds to go with an assist while player-coach Gareth Murray finished with 12 points, four rebounds and four assists.

Sunday saw the Guildford Heat revert to its losing ways with an 83-73 loss at the Surrey Sports Park. Facing the Newcastle Eagles, Martelle McLemore did what he could for the home side but to no avail, finishing with 19 points, six rebounds and one assist, while Tayo Ogedengbe posted 17 points, five rebounds and one assists. Ever-consistent Mike Martin added 10 points, seven rebounds, two steals and two blocks. For the Eagles, Charles Smith again dominated, finishing with 24 points and six rebounds; Joe Chapman added 23 points of his own to go with three rebounds and three assists, while big man Darius Defoe added 12 points and five rebounds for the winners.

The last game from the BBL before Christmas saw the Plymouth Raiders take a 94-67 victory over the Glasgow Rocks in Plymouth after a hard road trip for the Scottish side. Paul Williams gave the victors a double-double going for 19 points, 11 rebounds and three assists while last year’s BBL MVP added 26 points, five rebounds, five assists and six steals; Lehmon Colbert also added a double-double, finishing with 10 points, 10 rebounds and three assists. For the Rocks, Andrew Wedemire again led the way with 19 points and two rebounds; Danny Huffor contributed 16 points and six rebounds, while Jonny Bunyan added 12 points and five rebounds.

That wraps up the weekends BBL games here in the UK. Check back after the holiday for more English Basketball news.

Sam Chadwick is the co-head coach of the Solent Kestrels U14 basketball team, along with dividing the remainder of his time among an assistant quantity surveyor job, university studies and sportswriting. Chadwick is now a contributor at BBLfans.com, and you can follow him on Twitter at @chadwick9.

In almost reaching its closing point before the Christmas break, the British Basketball League saw the Trophy final decided when the Plymouth Raiders took on the Worcester Wolves, to determine which would face the Newcastle Eagles in January. Five BBL Championship games took place over Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The first game of the weekend saw the Mersey Tigers host the top-of-the-table Newcastle Eagles in what was a closer than expected match-up; the Eagles finally took it, 94-80, behind a nominee for ‘line of the night’ from Darius Defoe: a whopping 31 points, 18 rebounds and three assists. Teammate Joe Chapman contributed 18 points and not much else to go with four turnovers, while Paul Gause finished with 14 points, three rebounds and five assists. The Tigers had three players finishing with double-doubles: David Aliu played all 40 minutes and had 10 rebounds plus 19 points; Myles Hesson added 16 points and 11 rebounds (eight offensive); and Calvin Davis finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds to go with three assists. I’m surprised the Eagles managed a win here as the Tigers had 21 offensive boards compared with the Eagles’ 10, while the Tigers also out-rebounded the Eagles, 45-39.

Durham Wildcats and Milton Keynes Lions both played two games this weekend but started against each other on Friday, the Lions taking the win at home by a 87-74 final score. Another nominee for ‘line of the night’ was Demarius Bolds’ outstanding 37 points, seven rebounds, four assists, nine steals and one block. While Daniel Northern had a bad/good triple-double of 14 points, 15 rebounds but 10 turnovers (!), Howard Crawford finished with 15 points, five rebounds and five assists. For the Wildcats, it was Mike Capocci leading the way with 22 points, nine rebounds and an assist; Ralph Bucci finished with 15 points, eight rebounds and four assists, while Mario Flaherty had seven points, 11 rebounds and seven turnovers.

Saturday saw the Leicester Riders return to their winning ways, taking a 97-64 victory over the Wildcats. The Riders gpt 18 points and five assists from guard Cameron Rundles; Ayron Hardy contributed 17 points, eight rebounds and five assists; lastly, Brett Royster added 13 points, seven rebounds and three assists. For the Wildcats, Mike Cappoci was joint top scorer with 15 points, also adding seven steals, three rebounds and a couple of assists. Paul Elderkin joined Mike as the top scorer with 15 but added four assists and one rebound; Mario Flaherty finished with 10 points and five rebounds.

Game one of the BBL Cup Semi-Final saw the Plymouth Raiders take a rather convincing 111-83 victory at the Worcester Wolves behind 33 points, two rebounds, two assists from Jeremy Bell. Lehmon Colbert had a massive double-double finishing with 27 points, 13 rebounds and three assists; Michael Ojo had 15 points, seven rebounds and an assist while Paul Williams chipped in 13 points, seven rebounds and five assists. For the Wolves, Tommy Freeman led with 29 points, four rebounds, and two assists but committed five fouls; Sherrad Prezzie Blue contributed 18 points, seven assists and two rebounds; Carlos Fernandez finished with 16 points and three rebounds; while Richie Gordon had eight points to go with 14 rebounds, two steals and a block.

Sunday had the MK Lions playing for the second time and taking a second win from the weekend, this time over the Jets in Cheshire, 86-75. The Lions were led by forward Bill Cole who finished with a very solid 29 points, eight rebounds, two assists and five blocks. Adam Brown contributed 25 points, four assists, two rebounds and four steals; Colin O’Reilly added 12 points, 12 rebounds and three assists. For the Lions, Demarius Bolds was again unstoppable in going off for 29 points, 12 rebounds, an assist and three steals; Howard Crawford finished with 27 points, 10 rebounds and a single assist; while Daniel Northern had nine points, 13 rebounds and eight turnovers.

Game two of the BBL Cup Semi-Finals had the Raiders again meeting the Worcester Wolves; this time, the Wolves took the away victory, 89-82, but lost out due to the aggregate score. Lehmon Colbert had another amazing game for the Raiders, finishing with 22 points, nine rebounds but five turnovers. Michael Ojo led the scoring with 23 points; he also had two rebounds and one assists. Anthony Martin had 10 rebounds and eight assists. For the victorious Wolves, Richie Gordon was yet another nominee for ‘line of the night,’ finishing with a 34-point, 12-rebound double-double. Prezzie-Blue chipped in 19 points, six rebounds and five assists, while Carlos Fernandez had 15 points, six rebounds and five assists.

The last game of the weekend saw the Guildford Heat lose again, staying winless while also losing the services of Mike Copeland to injury. The final score of that game saw the Glasgow Rocks take a 99-94 home victory behind 32 points, seven assists and three rebounds from the BBL’s November player of the month Mychal Green. Gareth Murray added 21 points to go with three rebounds and three assists, while centre Deaundre Cranston had a near double-double with 19 points and nine rebounds. For the Heat, Tayo Ogedengbe finished with 22 points, four rebounds and one assists; Martelle Mclemore added 21 points, three rebounds and one assist; while guard Drew Lasker finished with 17 points, four rebounds and five assists. This tight game came down to shooting percentages, with the Rocks hitting 50% (9-of-18) from long range while hitting 56% from the field, the Heat on the other hand shot 53% from the field in a closely contested visit north of the border.

That wraps up the weekend’s BBL games here in the UK; check back soon for more English Basketball news.

Sam Chadwick is the co-head coach of the Solent Kestrels U14 basketball team, along with dividing the remainder of his time among an assistant quantity surveyor job, university studies and sportswriting. Chadwick is now a contributor at BBLfans.com, and you can follow him on Twitter at @chadwick9.

The first weekend of December saw some great basketball in the BBL including a thrilling Cup second leg between the Newcastle Eagles and Leicester Riders as well as three games decided by five points or less.

The second leg of the BBL Cup Semi-Final took place on Friday with the Eagles booking a place in the final with a 71-63 win over the Leicester Riders. The Eagles were led by a 22-point, 11-rebound double-double by Andrew Thomson; 13 points, eight rebounds and two assists by Charles Smith helped while Joe Chapman added 13 points to go with three rebounds and one assist. Cameron Rundles, Andrew Sullivan and Ayron Hardy combined for 42 of the Riders’ 63 points: Cameron finished with 16 points, six rebounds and three assists; Sullivan had 14 points, eight rebounds and three assists; and Hardy contributed 12 points and six rebounds to offset five turnovers.

Friday also saw the Mersey Tigers take the Cheshire Jets to overtime after regular time ended at 93 apiece. In the additional time, Mersey were able to complete a comeback and grab a 102-97 win despite being down by as many as 21 points earlier in the game. The bench played a huge part in this game, with Jets substitutes contributed zero points compared to the 22 points provided by that of the Tigers. Myles Hesson led the way for the eventual winners with 12 points, 14 rebounds, one assist and two blocks. David Aliu continued his good form with 23 points, seven rebounds and two assists, while Devan Bailey had an impressive 18 points and nine assists to go with three rebounds and two steals. For the Jets, Bill Cole did all he could but to no avail, finishing with a ‘Line of the night’ of 34 points, 15 rebounds, one assist and three blocks. Colin O’Reilly had a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds to go with four assists and three steals while Adam Brown had a solid 15 points, four rebounds and a couple of assists.

The Sharks dominated the Durham Wildcats with a 93-77 victory on Saturday night behind 20 points and 11 rebounds from Justin Dobbins; the centre did commit six turnovers, however. Mike Tuck also added 20 points to go with nine rebounds and three assists; Jimmy Langhurst nearly became the third players to reach 20 by finishing with 19 to go with seven rebounds and three assists of his own. For the Wildcats, Free Hinnenkamp top scored with 19 points while contributing four rebounds. Mario Flaherty chipped in 13 points, six rebounds and four assists while Mario Capocci finished with 17 points, six boards and three assists.

The Wildcats played again Sunday, going down by three to the Cheshire Jets in what was a busy weekend for the two sides. Cole again led the Jets with 22 points, five rebounds, one assist, three blocks and a steal, while Adam Brown and O’Reilly both finished with 21 points. Brown added five rebounds and seven assists with four steals, while O’Reilly also contributed 11 rebounds, five assists, three steals and one block. For the Wildcats, Mike Capocci finished as the high scorer with 22 points alongside nine rebounds and five assists. Ralph Bucci added 20 points of his own to go with 12 rebounds in a double-double effort, and Paul Elderkin also impressed with 15 points and three rebounds.

The Guildford Heat stay winless despite a close game with the Worcester Wolves, losing at home, 98-93. Drew Lasker finished as the high scorer with 22 points, adding four rebounds and four assists. Mike Copeland managed 13 points on seven rebounds (four offensive) while Martelle McLemore finished with 18 points, four rebounds and six assists. For the victors, Sherrad Prezzie-Blue top scored with 24 points but he also added six rebounds, eight assists and two steals. Tommy Freeman, who finished with 28 points on Friday, poured in another 23 to go with four rebounds and two assists while centre Richie Gordon added 23 points, five rebounds and a couple of assists.

The Riders lost for the second time in one weekend, going down 84-62 to the Plymouth Raiders after a 31-16 fourth quarter score line by the home side. The Riders got 20 points, five rebounds and two assists by Rundles and Ayron Hardy added 17 points, six rebounds and three assists while no one else on the Riders squad scored over seven points – including Sullivan, who had a quiet three points, four rebounds and two assists. The Riders shot 0-of-16 from long range in the game! For the Raiders, it was Paul Williams leading with a 19-point, 12-rebound double-double. Anthony Rowe added 16 points and seven rebounds while Lehmon Colbert finished one rebound shy of a double-double with 18 points, nine rebounds and four assists.

The final game of the weekend saw the Glasgow Rocks take a narrow four-point home loss to the still undefeated Newcastle Eagles by a score of 89-85. The Rocks were again led by guard Mychal Green, who finished on 23 points, eight rebounds and six assists to go with four turnovers. Andrew Wedemire had a double-double of 22 points, 10 rebounds and five assists but, again, six turnovers. Danny Huffor and Deandre Cranson both finished on 15 points and eight rebounds, but Cranson was a much more efficient 67% from the field compared with Huffor’s 35% on 6-of-17 shooting. For the Eagles, Joe Chapman had 27 points and five rebounds while Charles Smith finished with 15 points, three rebounds and four assists. Last up is Paul Gause, who added 13 points, five assists and three rebounds.

That wraps up the weekend’s BBL games here in the UK. Check back soon for more English Basketball news.

Sam Chadwick is the co-head coach of the Solent Kestrels U14 basketball team, along with dividing the remainder of his time among an assistant quantity surveyor job, university studies and sportswriting. Chadwick is now a contributor at BBLfans.com, and you can follow him on Twitter at @chadwick9.

Rundles chatted with BallinEurope’s British basketball specialist Sam Chadwick about his love for football, playing in the NCAA tournament, and the importance of Andrew Sullivan, among other topics. And judging by Rundles’ apparent enthusiasm within his responses, he can’t help but get noticed along the way to playing pro hoops “in as many countries as I can.” This guy knows how to bring the exclamation points.

BallinEurope: Firstly, you used to be pretty good at (American) football; what made you choose basketball?
Cameron Rundles: Football was my first love and I had a few Division 1 scholarships to play, but the older I got the more basketball became appealing to me and I found that in basketball my strongest qualities were able to flourish more! Things such as leadership, and knowledge of the game! In football these qualities apply as well, but are more difficult to show on an every play/possession basis! So I think I chose basketball because it fit my personality more! But I do believe I’m a better football player then basketball player!

You played NCAA basketball at Wofford after transferring from Montana, where you were Big Sky Freshman of the Year; what made you change?
My freshman year, the coach that recruited me left straight away! His name was coach Larry Krystoviak and he went on to coach the Milwaukee Bucks. I thought about leaving right away but I thought I would stick it out under coach Wayne Tinkle. After an impressive freshman year, I still had my doubts there and didn’t like our style of play! After my second year, I called my best friend Jamar Diggs, who at the time attended Wayne State, a Division II school in Nebraska and said, “Let’s link back up because I’m not truly happy here.” We both decided to attend Wofford College and the rest was history, taking the Terriers to their first ever NCAA tournament and we went back-to-back years!

What was it like playing in the NCAA Tournament?
Playing in the NCAA tournament were the two best games in my life! It’s a feeling that cannot be described with words, only by experiences! If I told you what it was like to play in that tournament, you would have to multiply it by a few to get the true feelings! It was really a dream come true: Years and years of watching that thing and filling out brackets as a kid and one day you’re that kid on CBS primetime playing in front of thousands and millions are watching on the tube!! There is no better feeling!

You’re now playing in the British Basketball League for Leicester Riders; what made you choose the BBL and more specifically what was it about Leicester that convinced you to sign there?
Being a rookie, I don’t think there could be too many things to say bad about my situation! I love the Leicester community, the fans, the environment – everything about this place is great! But the main reason I chose this place was because of our head coach Rob Paternostro! After just speaking with him on the phone a few times, you see a coach that is truly interested in bringing along great character guys and winners! And that’s what he has brought to the table! My teammates are great, and not just on the court, they are all high character guys and that speaks volumes on Rob’s part!

Do you have any personal and/or team goals for this season or do you just go with the flow?
I’m definitely not a just-go-with-the-flow kind of guy! I don’t have any individual goals set for myself as of now, but before I was in Leicester, it was just to become a professional player and play for multiple years. But I think I speak for the whole team when I say I believe our team goal is to come out of the BBL with some hardware this season! We have a chance to win the BBL Cup and the league as well as the whole thing! And if we fail to do all three of those tasks, I believe that will be a disappointing season for the Leicester Riders and certainly underachieving.

You have a lot of new faces at Leicester with the likes of yourself, Ayron Hardy and Andrew Sullivan; do you three bond well and is there someone who took you under their wing as a mentor?
Sullivan, Hardy and myself really do play well together, as well as my roommate [Bradd] Wierzbicki! Brett came along later, but our chemistry as a whole is starting to all come together! But without a doubt Andrew Sullivan has been the mentor for us, especially myself and Hardy. He has played for a lot of winning teams and understands what it takes to win at a professional level! And I feel like he and I are very similar in some ways but I’m usually the listener when we interact because he has so much insight to give a young player like myself! Myself as well as the Leicester Riders are pretty fortunate to land such a player as Sullivan!

What difference does Andrew Sullivan make to your team? Obviously you started the season without him, but since he joined you haven’t lost a game.
The difference that Sullivan brings to our team first is his versatility! He is able to play on the wing as well as on the block! And even more on the defensive end on the floor, he is able to guard the 2 position all the way to the 5 position when needed! Also, he brings a winning attitude to our team that fits in because our coach Rob has won lots of games as a coach as well as a player in this league and I think of myself as a true winner as well as many of the guys on our team, but Sullivan has won on this level and as recently as last year with the Mersey Tigers, so it’s valuable to have a guy like that in your corner!

What’s next for you personally? Playing elsewhere in Europe or do you think you will stay at Leicester for a while?
For me personally, I wanna travel the world and play in as many countries as I can for as many years as my body allows me to! Whether that would be next year or in multiple years from now I’m not sure! I would definitely love to stay in Leicester for the next couple years if the situation works for both parties, but as of now I’m just trying to win basketball games for my club!

What has been the game of your career so far?
The game of my career thus far would have to be my first road game in the BBL championships, when I tallied 33 points off of seven three-point makes and hit the game-winning shot as the buzzer sounded over a pair of defenders to win by two points! That was at Guildford. But it was also my worst free throw shooting performance maybe of my life! Four for 12 … atrocious!

Lastly, what advice would you give to younger guys trying to make it in the NCAA or professional basketball?
My advice to younger kids trying to make it to the big leagues or the NCAA ranks is to first decide if they really want to do it! Once you’ve looked yourself in the mirror and decided that’s your dream, you just chase and chase and keep chasing. During your joinery you will come across peer pressure, drugs/alcohol, girls/boys, all these distractions, but they shouldn’t interfere with getting to that level if you’re truly serious with chasing that dream! And once you make it … Definitely enjoy every moment, but also even surprise yourself and keep climbing higher!!!!

This past Friday saw four BBL Championships games, while Saturday saw the Wildcats take on the Raiders and the game one of the BBL Cup Semi-Finals with the Leicester Riders going up against the Eagles. The lateness of this post is also due to the Wolves going up against the MK Lions on Tuesday night, broadcast on Sky Sports 3.

Friday saw two teams from the bottom half of the table face off, when the Mersey Tigers narrowly defeated the Durham Wildcats, 85-81. The Tigers were led by David Aliu who finished with a 19-point, 12-rebound double-double to go with two assists; Myles Hesson had a double-double of his own in putting up 12 points and grabbing 10 boards; and Matthew Otten did a little bit of everything to total 13 points, four rebounds and six assists. The Wildcats had a good team effort in the loss, including 20 points and nine rebounds from Mario Flaherty; 12 points and 11 rebounds from Ralph Bucci; and lastly 24 points (including 4-of-8 shooting on threes), five rebounds and four assists from Paul Elderkin.

The currently undefeated Newcastle Eagles continued their run with a 90-67 victory over the Plymouth Raiders behind a 22-point, eight-rebound outing from centre Darius Defoe, who has been solid in the middle as of late – he notched 15 points and 14 rebounds last weekend. The Eagles also got 18 points, seven rebounds and three assists from Joe Chapman despite five turnovers; Andrew Thomson had a solid double-double with 10 rebounds and 13 points, including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc. The Raiders had a miserable shooting performance connecting on just 1-of-14 three-point attempts for a 7% success rate, while hitting just 34% from the field. In terms of individual stats, 2010-11 BBL MVP Jeremy Bell finished with just 11 points to go with eight rebounds while Anthony Rowe contributed 14 points and eight rebounds; however, it was Lehmon Colbert who led the way with 19 points and seven rebounds.

Sheffield Sharks, who are sitting at 2-4, got a one-point victory over the previously undefeated Worcester Wolves, 76-75, after 25 points from Team Britain PG Nate Reinking. Reinking was supported by 16 points from Justin Dobbins and 14 points from Jimmy Langhurst. For the Wolves, it was Richie Gordon leading with 23 points while Arnas Kaslauskas added 18 points and David “Tin-Tin” Watts chipped in 11.

Milton Keynes Lions lost a close game at home to Glasgow Rocks, 95-92, as the Rocks had another brilliant game from guard Mychal Green, getting 29 points, six rebounds and six assists from the former Canterbury Ram. Andrew Wedemire added 15 points, eight rebounds and five assists, while Danny Huffor continued to step up in the place of E.J. Harrison by contributing 18 points and four assists to go with five turnovers. For the Lions, league leader Demarius Bolds finished with just 17 points but added five rebounds, seven assists and five steals against four turnovers. Stefan Gill led the way in scoring with 19 points while Daniel Northern finished with 16 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks. This game was mired with mistakes, as Lions and Rocks combined for 37 turnovers.

Saturday saw Durham Wildcats host UCP Marjon Plymouth Raiders in what would be another closely contested game and finally went down as an 80-75 Raider win. Mario Flaherty had another double-double of 22 points to go with 10 rebounds; Mike Capocci added 20 points, six rebounds and three assists, while Paul Elderkin contributed 15 points and seven assists. For the Raiders, who again only had seven players to use, got 31 points from Jeremy Bell to go with four steals and five rebounds, Lehmon Colbert finished with 11 points, four rebounds and three assists while Anthony Rowe chipped in 13 points and eight rebounds to go with seven turnovers. The Raiders overcame 2-of-11 shooting from deep, while the Wildcats lost despite 73% free-throw shooting.

In the first BBL Cup semifinal, the game finished at 90-90 in a controversial draw between the Leicester Riders and the Newcastle Eagles despite the Eagles at one stage being up by 21 points. For the Riders, it was Bradd Wierzbicki finishing with 32 points, four rebounds and four assists; Brett Royster contributed 19 points, nine rebounds and four blocks on 88% from the field; and Ayron Hardy stuffed the stat sheet like a Christmas day turkey finishing with 18 points, 11 rebounds, six assists, four steals and three blocks while shooting 67% on field goals. This game showed a crucial difference between these two teams: Riders had just five points from substitutes, while the Eagles showed their depth with 28 bench points.

That wraps up the weekend’s BBL games here in the UK. Check back soon for more English Basketball news.
Sam Chadwick is the co-head coach of the Solent Kestrels U14 basketball team, along with dividing the remainder of his time among an assistant quantity surveyor job, university studies and sportswriting. Chadwick is now a contributor at BBLfans.com, and you can follow him on Twitter at @chadwick9.

This week featured seven BBL Championship games starting on Wednesday, 16 November, when Marjon Plymouth Riders took on the Prestige Homes MK Lions; here’s the wrap-up of all games since then.

That first game Wednesday saw the Riders take a 92-76 victory over the MK Lions, thanks to individual contributions in a 25-point, 10-rebound double-double from Lehmon Colbert; 21 points, six rebounds and four assists from Jeremy Bell, who also coughed-up six turnovers; Paul Williams’ double-double of his own with 12 points, 13 rebounds; and Michael Ojo’s 17 points, eight rebounds and three assists. For the Lions, Demarius Bolds had a massive, 16 points, 10 assists, six rebounds and seven steals to go along with six turnovers; Howard Crawford was the high point man for the Lions with 21 points, while Daniel Northern added 16 points and five rebounds. The Lions shot an atrocious 20% from deep and 40% from the field.

Friday saw the host Mersey Tigers lose out 97-79 to the Worcester Wolves. The losing Tigers were led by new addition Marlon Capers, who finished with 21 points and six rebounds while hitting 63% from the field. Capers was joined by Kris Douse, who added 16 points, six rebounds and four assists but turned the ball over eight times. For the Wolves, it was Tommy Freeman who led the way with 27 points, nine rebounds and two assists; David “Tin-Tin” Watts had 21points, four rebounds; Richie Gordon had another double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds; and Callum Jones had 11 points, five assists and three rebounds.

One Health Sharks Sheffield went down 99-94 against the Leicester Riders behind 25 points, five rebounds and four assists from Cameron Rundles. Bradd Wierzbicki had 23 points, three rebounds and two assists while hitting four of five threes. Andrew Sullivan finished with 21 points, four rebounds and four assists; he also went four-of-five from beyond the arc. Ayron Hardy had a solid all-around game, finishing with 18 points, seven rebounds and two assists. For the Sharks, it was centre Justin Dobbins leading with 34 points, seven rebounds and five assists; Mike Tuck also had 18 points, eight rebounds and two assists while Jimmy Langhurst chipped in 16 points to go with five boards.

Saturday saw the Durham Wildcats play host to the Glasgow Rocks, eventually going down 92-75. The Rocks got an impressive outing from Mychal Green, who led the game with 35 points to go with five rebounds and four assists on 69% shooting from the field. Danny Huffor continued to fill the void left by E.J. Harrison’s ankle injury, contributing 19 points on 82% shooting, and forward Gareth Murray added 10 points, five rebounds and eight assists himself. For the Wildcats, Ralph Bucci had a double-double of 16 points, 11 rebounds and six assists. Mike Cappoci led with 19 points and three rebounds, while Mario Flaherty had eight points to go with 11 rebounds.

Riders won their second game of the weekend with a 92-63 victory against the Mersey Tigers. Rundles again led the way with 18 points and five assists; Ayron Hardy contributed 15 points, eight rebounds and six assists; and Brad Wierzbicki had a double-double with 11 points and 10 assists to go with two rebounds and four turnovers. For the Tigers, Myles Hesson led with 18 points but contributed a mere two rebounds and one assist. Kris Douse had 13 points, eight rebounds and two assists, while David Aliu had an impressive 13 rebounds (including four offensive) and seven points.

Worcester Wolves took their win streak to eight games with a 77-76 home over the Plymouth Raiders. Sherrad Prezzie-Blue had an impressive night, going off for 24 points, six rebounds and five assists. Richie Gordon had a near double-double of 16 points and nine rebounds, while Arnas Kazlauskas finished with 11 points, seven rebounds and three assists from the centre position. In a losing effort for the Raiders, Jeremy Bell contributed 24 points and seven rebounds; Anthony Rowe added 18 points and eight rebounds; and Paul Williams finished with 10 points, eight rebounds and three assists. The Raiders connected on zero of nine three-point attempts and had just 10 assists on 60 field goal attempts and only 31 makes.

Sunday saw the final game of the weekend when the Cheshire Jets lost a close one to the visiting Newcastle Eagles, 78-74. The Jets managed to turn a seven point halftime lead into a four-point loss by managing a combined 32 points in the second half. The game also saw the Jets losing centre Matthew Schneck to injury after just 14 minutes of play. To that point, Scheck’s stats were at six points and eight rebounds, including four offensive boards. In his absence, Bill Cole stepped up to finish with 24 points and nine rebounds but missed on all seven from deep. Adam Brown’s stat sheet was all over the place with 17 points, four rebounds, eight assists, nine turnovers and seven steals.

For the Eagles, it was a Charles Smith double-double that led the way with 18 points and 10 rebounds, though going just 2-of-11 on threes. Darius Defoe added a double-double of his own with 15 points and 14 rebounds including seven offensive; Joe Chapman added 18 points. This game finished with both teams hitting under 35% from deep: The Jets managed to connect on just 22% from long range, while the Eagles hit 32%. The fourth quarter saw the Jets miss nine three-point attempts while making just three field goals for the entire quarter.

That wraps up the weekend’s BBL games here in the UK; check back soon for more English Basketball news.

[And now for something completely different: Step dance at halftime of the Leicester-Mersey game --Ed.]

Sam Chadwick is the co-head coach of the Solent Kestrels U14 basketball team, along with dividing the remainder of his time among an assistant quantity surveyor job, university studies and sportswriting. Chadwick is now a contributor at BBLfans.com, and you can follow him on Twitter at @chadwick9.