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BBL Rocks sign off by downing Eagles
The largest crowd of the campaign turned up at Meadowbank on Thursday night to bid farewell to Edinburgh Rocks and wish them well on their travel in the Dairylea Dunkers Championship play-offs. And Jim Brandon’s men did not disappoint , taking their third win in four attempts over cross-border foes this season Newcastle Eagles by a 76-65 margin.
Brandon, who was probably taking his personal curtain call in the capital, spoke beforehand of gaining momentum going into the Rocks all-important quarter-final tie in Coventry in eight days time. He received an accomplished if not entirely emphatic performance against a visiting side who are destined to finish in the bottom two places in the Northern Conference.
After conceding the opening eight points of the evening, Newcastle notched the next seven before their hosts surged in front, a 12-2 burst leaving Edinburgh up 29-18 midway through the second quarter.
However Eagles, sparked by a total 20 points from their Canadian Olympic star Andrew Mavis, compiled a 5-14 run around the interval to re-take the lead and with eight minutes left in the final period, the Tyneside outfit possessed a 59-55 cushion.
But it did not last and eight unanswered points for Edinburgh reversed the flow irrevocably in their favour and they cruised home to victory.
"We clinched the third best record in the entire league," stated a delighted Brandon. "That's all we could have wanted and although we didn't put Newcastle away as we should have, it was a good performance."
John McCord and Michael New notched 18 points apiece to lead their side but it was co-captain Iain Maclean who was awarded the Player of the Season prize.
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