Chester Jets       81     (19,35,61)       (Thomas 25, Hamilton 24, McCord 19) 
Manchester Giants      62     (18,24,42)       (Mickens 21, Ellis 20, Leahy 7)

Chester Jets maintained their position atop the BBL Championship Northern Conference with a 81-62 win at home to local rivals, Manchester Giants. Although it was the Giants who started the brighter, leading 16-6 early on, Jets rallied and an 11-2 first quarter run gave them a 17-16 lead that they never relinquished. Runs of 16-2 in the second quarter and 11-4 in the third helped the Jets to extend their lead further and the closest that Manchester could get was at 66-52 in the final quarter. 
Debutant John Thomas led all scorers with 25 points for the Jets; Rick Mickens added 21 for the Giants on his debut.
 

Sheffield           91     (21,46,66)       (Scantlebury 19, Monaco 17, Reinking 13) 
Edinburgh Rocks   69     (16,31,51)       (Berry 23, Mackay 12, Huntley 11)

Westfield Sharks Sheffield's opening game of the 2001/02 season ended with the spoils going to the Yorkshiremen, as Chris Finch's team defeated Edinburgh Rocks 91-69 at Ponds Forge ISC to maintain their four season hoodoo over the Scots. The home side dominated the game throughout, building up a 15-point lead by half-time. An 8-2 start to the third quarter extended their lead out still further to 54-33 and the Sharks steadily built on their lead, eventually extending the margin to 23 points at 83-66. 

"I feel pretty good about things after this weekend," admitted Rocks coach Kevin Wall however. "Keith Bunyan showed in London that he can step up and do a fine job. Then Stuart Mackay did the same against Sheffield off the bench. Darren Mills had some nice minutes during the weekend. So if you start piecing everything together, I think we'll be able to turn this into a highly competitive squad."

Peter Scantlebury was the Sharks star man with 19 points to his name, but Rocks' Ted Berry led all scorers with 23 points.
 

Brighton Bears      68     (11,24,47)       (Johnson 18, Duck 15, Davis/Brown 13) 
Thames Valley Tigers     89     (13,35,59)       (Burks/Bowman 23, Meldrum 12)

Thames Valley Tigers took a share of the lead in the BBL Championship Southern Conference
thanks to this 89-68 success away to Brighton Bears. It was Tigers second win in as many days and came thanks in no small part to Eric Burks and Barry Bowman, who combined to score 46 points. After a close first 15 minutes, Tigers closed the second quarter out with an 11-2 tear to lead 35-24. After a steady third period, a 7-0 run at the beginning of the fourth quarter extended Tigers lead out to 72-53 and Bears could find no way back with coach Nick Nurse visibly aggrieved at the finish. 

Wilbur Johnson led Brighton's scoring with 18 points.
 

Leopards  79  (23,44,68)       (Robinson 23, Brown 20, Alderson 15) 
Newcastle Eagles  83     (17,37,60)       (Leak 24, Walker 23, Myers 20)

Newcastle Eagles came from 19 points down to defeat DG London Leopards Kool Kats 83-79 away from home on Sunday evening. The hometown Leopards won the first three quarters, leading 68-60 heading into the final period. However, a 9-0 start to the fourth quarter by the Eagles, including a decisive three pointer from debutant Jeremy Hyatt, gave the visitors a 69-68 lead with seven minutes to go. Eagles went on to win the fourth quarter 23-11 to take the game. Eagles' Malcolm Leak top scored with 24 points, while Maurice Robinson added 23 for the Leopards.

"The stats might tell a different story but I'm sure there's much more to come from Malcolm," said Eagles chief Tony Garboletto. "Shawn Myers was superb and must have dunked the ball on them at least six times while Fabulous Flournoy gave us the defensive play we were looking for. This was a great result and Leopards will not lose too many homecourt games this season.

"They're not a side I like to play against and they never allow the opposition to run their best basketball."

Bizarrely, the table officials missed several scores with the Eagles, apparently down by 12, informed they were behind by 16 at one points. "I've never seen anything like it," added Garbelotto. "It took a great deal of effort to stay in touch after that but the second half was a battle and it was a battle we won. I don't know how we won but we did and this will do wonders for our confidence."
 
 

Milton Keynes Lions                     62     (11,27,43)       (Kirk 16, Lloyd/Alleyne 13) 
London Towers                   66     (19,33,48)       (White 18, Cheung/Hickey/Kent 11)

Kinder London Towers picked up their second victory in as many days, when they defeated Milton Keynes Lions 66-62 on the road on Sunday afternoon. A game-high 18 points from John White went a long way in aiding the Towers to this hard-fought win. The visitors edged the first half and led 33-27 at half-time. With five minutes to go in the game, Towers led 58-54. Player/Coach Nigel Lloyd bagged a couple of buckets to bring the Lions back to within two points at 58-60, but it was Towers' Silas Cheung, who netted four shots from the foul line to put the game beyond the Lions. Reggie Kirk was the Lions leading scorer, with 16 points to his name.

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