Plymouth Raiders 69, Newcastle Eagles 76

Oct 15 2007 The Journal

A SUPERB victory at Plymouth last night made it a fabulous double winning weekend for the Newcastle Eagles.

Coach Fabulous Flournoy’s men have put a marker down in their quest for championship honours this season.

The win at Leicester on Saturday was probably expected but to double it up on the road at one of the hardest venues to play at in the BBL was a massive bonus.

Coming into the game the Eagles were in confident mood and it was a confidence that was not unfounded. Once again, point guard Richard Midgley top-scored for Newcastle but this is more about a solid professional team performance than individuals.

The likes of Lynard Stewart on Saturday and Charles Smith (pictured left), Jeremy Hyatt and Flournoy himself were all crucial to both performances.

Last night it was 18-18 after the first 10 minutes. The Eagles then broke the game open with a 14-3 run at the start of the second on the back of two three-point efforts from Smith.

It was a lead they held until half time as they took a 38-27 scoreline into the locker room.

Plymouth made a determined charge in the third quarter and at one point cut the gap to three. But the Eagles held firm and had a five-point advantage to take into the final period in this tense defensive battle.

Raiders got this back to two with the opening points of the fourth, but Newcastle produced a clinical 10-1 run to re-establish a lead they never lost.

At Leicester on Saturday, Midgley’s 28 points led the Eagles to a 99-80 win to set up last night’s win at Plymouth.

The Eagles have not won three tough road games in a row before and will look forward to returning to the Metro Radio Arena tomorrow night when the BBL’s newest franchise, Everton Tigers, arrive in town.

TOP SCORERS – Newcastle Eagles: Richard Midgeley 22, Charles smith 18, Fab Flournoy and Jeremy Hyatt both 11.

SATURDAY – Leicester Tigers 80 Newcastle Eagles 99 (Midgeley 28, Stewart 15, Smith 13).