Smith loss no barrier to Eagles flight
Newcastle handed Derby their third consecutive defeat, winning 82-94 at the Storm Centre, despite losing forward Charles Smith to a suspected knee injury after only three minutes.
Eagles, who started badly, came to life in the middle quarters with Ralph Blalock and Andrew Mavis finding their shooting touch from three-point land to open up a 49-58 lead en route to 29 and 23 points respectively.
Darrian Evans tried to drag his side back into the game in the final period with 16 of his game-leading 35 points coming in the final ten minutes, but it was all to no avail as the Eagles collected their third win in the Championship this season.
Former London Tower Ray Schultz netted four points on his debut for Derby.
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