Tricky hurdle cleared easily

Mar 22 2008 The Journal

THE Eagles negotiated another potentially difficult hurdle in their relentless pursuit of the BBL Championship title last night at The Metro Radio Arena, writes JEFF KING.

Plymouth Raiders rode in to Newcastle on the back of seven league wins in a row and holding second place in the table. But they left town a well-beaten side with their dream of glory virtually ended.

Newcastle appear to be on a different level at times to the rest of the BBL and seem to be able to move up a gear and destroy anything in their path almost at will.

This was their 12th league win in a row and their 18th straight victory in front of their adoring home fans.

Once again there were powerhouse displays from the Eagles forwards with Lynard Stewart picking up yet another double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds.

Darius Defoe was only one shy of the same with 15 points and nine rebounds and MVP of the night Olu Babalola was in simply irresistible form with the top score of 21 points as well as 8 rebounds and nine assists.

Plymouth are a side renowned for their inside play and rebounding abilities but in a lack-lustre display they simply couldn’t cope with the Eagles power.

When you add in Aussie guard Steve Leven’s 18 points as well, it’s easy to see Newcastle’s level of dominance. However, there was little evidence of what was to come in the opening ten minutes as both sides opened brightly.

Newcastle edged in front with a 7-2 run including a three-point basket by Babalola to lead 15-10 but by the end of the period the gap was only two at 21-19. The second quarter though saw The Eagles at their awesome best.

With the game still in the balance at 29-24 Newcastle hit three efforts from beyond the arc in a row, two from Jeremy Hyatt and another from Babalola that sparked a sensational 17-0 burst to leave Raiders dead and buried at 46-24.

The half ended with Newcastle 50-27 up after an awesome second 10 minutes that saw Fab Flournoy’s men restrict Plymouth to just eight points in that time while scoring 29 of their own.

There was no let-up in the third. Plymouth tried to come back and had a 6-0 run but all that did was seemingly annoy the Eagles and they hit back with a 19-4 statement that had the lead up to 34 at 71-37.

Plymouth’s Tyneside-born coach Gary Stronach could only simply stand and stare as his team were simply outclassed and severely embarrassed.

The final 10 minutes saw Flournoy rest virtually all of his senior players including himself with tomorrow’s showdown with BBL champions Guildford Heat looming.

He emptied his bench giving valuable court time to Will Spragg, Aaron Neilson and Brian McCotter and Plymouth took advantage to win the period 35-21 and give the final scoreline a look they hardly deserved.

While this was one of Newcastle’s best performances of the season it will already be forgotten by Flournoy, who will now turn his and his charges’ attention to the game at Guildford tomorrow, where a win would virtually wrap up the title.

TOP SCORERS – Newcastle Eagles: Olu Babalola 21, Lynard Stewart 20, Steve Leven 18.

Plymouth Raiders: Terrance Durham 15, Gaylon Moore 13, DeAntoine Beasley 11.