NEWCASTLE Eagles gave ailing Fab Flournoy the perfect pick-me-up with a crucial defeat of Guildford Heat to close in on top spot in the BBL Championship table.
With their player-coach spending a second night in hospital recovering from a bout of pneumonia, assistant coach Dave Forrester stepped up to the plate and led the Eagles to an industrious 98-90 victory over a dogged, but limited, Guildford Heat.
Flournoy would have loved the hustle and intensity of his senior men as the Eagles brushed off the shock health scare suffered by their talismanic chief to dominate this contest.
Kadiri Richard was excellent, Trey Moore inspired throughout and Joe Chapman lethal enough from range to keep Guildford firmly at arm’s length for much of a mostly one-sided game at Sport Central.
Only during a loose first quarter did the Heat ever really put their hosts under any pressure, and that threat was soon snuffed out when they managed to get play maker Moore on the ball regularly enough to make the killer passes. Although the team deserve plaudits for the professional way they handled the loss of Flournoy, credit must also go to the animated Forrester on his home debut as coach for making the right calls and keeping the Eagles on their toes.
He would probably have wished for a slightly better start – Newcastle looking slightly jaded in the opening exchanges as they returned to the scene of their heartbreaking Trophy semi-final defeat seven days ago.
Indeed, a scrappy first quarter saw both teams surrender possession far too easily.
But it was Guildford who looked the more composed on their way to establishing an impressive 23-18 lead.
It should have been more too as the Eagles turned over the ball in the dying seconds – only for Jacob Loveridge to inexplicably delay his dunk and find himself timed out by the buzzer, much to the annoyance of his colleagues.
Newcastle were to make them pay for such profligate scoring, storming back into the lead during a high octane second period. A 27-18 quarter – notable for some vintage stuff from Charles Smith – put them firmly in the ascendancy, and the Heat never looked like they would wrestle back the advantage from there.
The Eagles extended their advantage with a scintilating 32-21 third quarter before taking their foot off the accelerator to allow the Heat to edge the final stanza 28-21.
Moore was once again the pick of the Eagles with 29 points but there was some seriously slick work by Richard in the key to keep the Heat frustrated throughout.
The victory keeps the Eagles well and truly in the hunt for a hat-trick of BBL titles – especially as the Mersey Tigers suffered a shock reverse at the MK Lions on Thursday night.
Moving to 12-3, they have second-placed Glasgow Rocks in their sights ahead of a critical trip to Scotland a week on Sunday.
All in all a good night’s work for caretaker coach Forrester, who will helm the side for tonight’s trip to Essex Pirates ahead of discussions with owner Paul Blake on whether to bolster the backroom staff with a further temporary appointment.
Depending on the length of Flournoy’s absence, bringing in playing reinforcements is another option open to the improving Eagles.
NEWCASTLE EAGLES 98 (Moore 29, Chapman 24, Richard 14)
GUILDFORD HEAT 90 (McLemore 29, Martin 16, Joseph 12)
