A SUPER win at Plymouth Pavilions yesterday completed a marvellous double-win weekend for Newcastle Eagles.
Seeing off potential title contenders Cheshire on Friday night was one thing. But to travel the length of the country less than 48 hours later in to an arena where the home side are so dominant and come away with a win shows the measure of Fab Flournoy’s team.
Eagles had defeated Raiders comfortably a fortnight ago in Newcastle but always knew their task would be that much harder on Plymouth’s home court, and so it proved.
Not only was the win by a narrow margin but it was achieved after Newcastle had been 17 points down at one stage in the first half.
A combination of great shooting from Charles Smith, Trey Moore and Reggie Jackson and a big second-half defensive performance were key.
Plymouth are in a dog-fight to qualify for the end of season play-offs and needed to build on their performance 24 hours earlier against Milton Keynes.
The star in that game was Evaldas Zabas with 25 points but Eagles, and Jackson in particular, locked him down, preventing the Raiders play-maker from influencing the result.
Moore picked up an early foul and then a technical for arguing it and had to spend the majority of the first period on the bench. This hurt Eagles and upset their normal rotations, allowing Raiders to take advantage of the visitors’ poor defence.
Plymouth ripped off the first six points of the second quarter to go 35-18 in front and things looked ominous. But then Smith and Moore got going and long-rangers started finding the Raiders net as Eagles began their comeback.
Newcastle poured in 30 points in the run to half-time and restricted Plymouth to 17, meaning they’d really got themselves back in the game at the halfway mark with Raiders’ lead cut to 52–48.
Flournoy and assistant coach Dave Forrester made some decisive defensive adjustments in the break and it was a different Eagles side that came out.
A 28-14 ten-minute effort turned the game around and suddenly Plymouth were struggling against the Eagles’ firepower as the visitors took a 76-66 lead in to the final stanza.
The home side, urged on by their support, produced one last big effort in that final ten minutes and rocked Newcastle back. However, every time they looked as if they were turning the game back in their favour, Eagles had an answer. Whether it was Jackson, Moore, Smith or captain Andrew Bridge, who had a fine second half, they always seemed to find a way to just keep Plymouth at bay.
Bridge hit a dagger-three on his way to 14 personal points and Moore and Smith made vital free-throws.
However, when Lehmon Colbert Jr. made a bucket with only 11 seconds to play the lead was only 95-94 and Flournoy called time-out. Coming out of the time-out Smith was fouled with six seconds to play and knocked down the two free-throws that saw his side to victory.
Eagles travel to Liverpool E tomorrow for a top-of-the-table clash against rivals Mersey Tigers.
PLYMOUTH: Jerome Gumbs 25, Lehmon Colbert Jr. 22, Anthony Rowe 18
NEWCASTLE: Charles Smith 26, Trey Moore 22, Reggie Jackson 19.
