BBL Championship
Derby Storm 72 (18,40,54) (Robinson 20, Griffin 15, Hildreth 12)
Manchester Giants 91 (27,45,67) (Ellis 31, Mickens 17, Leahy 15)

Manchester Giants finally lost their unwanted winless tag by picking up a first victory of the season, 31 points from Clyde Ellis helping Mark Ingle's men to leapfrog over fellow strugglers Derby Storm with a 91-72 victory at the Thunderdome. 

Eight games so far without a win, the guests started the stronger and took a 19-10 lead in the first, and continued to lead right through the first half, helped by a 10-0 in the second to take it out to 39-24. A 12-4 tear in the third took the score to 65-52, and even with a late 8-0 run from Derby, the Giants never relinquished the lead from that point.  Durrell Robinson bagged 20 points for the Storm.
 

Brighton Bears 75 (20,44,58) (Davis 25, Johnson,13, White 12)
Milton Keynes Lions 73 (16,41,59) (Kirk 18, Siemon 16, Lloyd 13)

Brighton Bears came from behind in the final quarter to edge out Milton Keynes Lions 75-73 led by 25 points from Sterling Davis. Before a 3000 crowd, the hosts started strong opening up an early lead with a 10-2 tear to lead 17-8 in the first, but the Lions began to claw back the deficit in the second with three's from Andrew Alleyne and Jake Russell to go in 3 behind at the half.  Milton Keynes stayed strong at the start of the third with a 12-4 run to take the lead 58-52 in the third but they were left to rue missed chances in the closign stages. 

It was Brighton who finished the game the stronger with Albert White and Davis - both of whom were forced to sit out long periods in the third and fourth quarters in foul trouble - who came up trumps for the Bears down the stretch scoring 10 points between them in the final minutes. 

"We were able to lock down defensively and come away with the victory," said Davis. Lions scoring was led by Reggie Kirk with 18.
 

Leicester Riders 104 (24,48,72) (Moore 36, Blalock/New 18,) 
Edinburgh Rocks 88 (23,42,63) (Berry 28, Gaines 26, Gardner 12)

Discarded by Leicester Riders only a fortnight ago, Jon Gaines had ample motivation to prove a point last night when he returned to Loughborough, Edinburgh Rocks' new signing making his debut for the Meadowbank outfit against his former club. The American guard fired in the opening three points of the evening from long range but it was a lead the Scots failed to hold, Leicester eventually taking a 104-88 win in the BBL Championship which elevated them to level with Chester Jets on top of the standings.

Gaines amassed 26 points in an impressive debut but his scoring threat could not stop Kevin Wall's side from arriving at half-time 48-42 in arrears. However he as upstaged by Leicester's own new acquisition Tim Moore as Billy Mims' men raced clear after the break and although their guests closed with a 12-2 burst, Moore single-handedly pushed the reigning champions into an unassailable advantage.

He hit eight unanswered points as the Riders entered the final quarter 72-63 in front and after taking his final tally to 36 points and 10 rebounds, he left the game to an ovation with four minutes left. 

Ted Berry led the Rocks with 28 points while former Meadowbank favourite Michael New added 18 for the victors.
 

BBL Trophy, group stages
London Towers 110 (33,60,85) (Myers 23, Eppehimer 20, White 19)
Newcastle Eagles 96 (27,58,73) (Hyatt 27, Leak 24, Walker 21)

A game-leading 27 point contribution from Jeremy Hyatt - including six of seven from three-point range- could not prevent Newcastle Eagles from falling to a 110-96 loss at London Towers on Saturday night.

Towers opened up an early lead in the first, but Newcastle stayed in contact with 17 points in the first quarter alone from Malcolm Leak to trail by 2 points 60-58 at the half.  Towers started the second half with a 12-2 tear to take the score to 72-60 and they never relinquished the lead from that point. 

The struggling Londoners handed a debut to Robert Youngblood, the former All-Star netting 10 points and eight rebounds on his return from injury but it was Terrell Myers who paced the victors with 23 points. Leak finished with 24 as the guests faded.

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