BBL Championship
Edinburgh Rocks                          83     (31,45,65)       (Gaines 29, Huntley 21, Gardner 16)
Newcastle Eagles                         94     (23,48,69)       (Walker/Myers 24, Leak 23)
 

Edinburgh Rocks spurned a glorious chance to put themselves firmly back in contention to make the BBL Championship play-offs on Sunday night as their main rivals Newcastle Eagles departed Meadowbank with a 94-83 win. Crafting defeat from the jaws of what would have been an invaluable victory, Kevin Wall's men were out-manoeuvred by a Tyneside outfit who simply displayed a greater appetite for success.

"It was a great opportunity and we let it slip away," said Wall, who will surely examine the
possibility of changes before the transfer deadline. "After we got off to a great start, we must
have thought it would be a cake-walk and it wasn't."

The hosts, coming off a fortnight's recess, raced into an early 22-9 lead against an Eagles side
shorn of three of its usual starting quintet including Jeremy Hyatt (tendinitis). However the Scots failed to solidify their cushion despite regular trips to the foul line, allowing the tenacious visitors to edge 48-45 ahead at half-time. 

Jon Gaines attempted to awaken Edinburgh from their slumber but although the American ended with a game-best 29 points, his team remained largely stagnant. 

Rallying briefly to level at 74-74 with seven minutes left on Ted Berry's sole score of the contest, the visitors were allowed to reel off 14 unanswered points to strengthen their hold on fourth place in the Northern Conference with Shawn Myers and TJ Walker netting 24 apiece.

"We needed that badly," said Eagles coach Tony Garbelotto who incurred a technical foul in the fifth minute of the contest. "Any win is good right now."
 
 

Chester Jets                     120     (28,60,83)       (Davis 35, Thomas/McCord 28)
Milton Keynes Lions         96     (19,44,72)       (Lloyd 22, Siemon 18, Payne 17)

Chester Jets defeated Milton Keynes Lions 120-96 at the Northgate Arena on Sunday evening, despite the continued absence of the injured James Hamilton. The Jets led from tip to buzzer, scoring eight of the opening ten points and leading 28-19 at the end of the first quarter. Milton Keynes enjoyed a 7-2 tear in the second quarter to reduce the arrears to four points at 30-26, but Jets responded with eight unanswered points. 

Calvin Davis bagged 14 points in both the second and third quarters as Chester pulled out an 83-72 lead by the end of the third. Lions then scored the first bucket of the fourth quarter, but that was to be as close as they would get, as Jets' 15-3 run sealed the result. Davis led all scorers with 35 personal points.
 
 

Brighton Bears          86     (13,39,63)       (White 24, Davis 17, W.Johnson 13)
Pertemps Bullets Birmingham        68     (13,33,46)       (Craven/R.Johnson 14, Bailey 13)
 

Brighton Bears picked up their second win of the week - an 86-68 win over Pertemps Bullets Birmingham - to go within two points of second-placed Thames Valley Tigers in the BBL Championship Southern Conference. 

Following an even first quarter, Bears pulled ahead with a 9-0 run in the second period, to lead 26-22 and steadily built on that advantage to lead 39-33 at half-time. Two 6-0 tears in the third quarter extended that lead out to 17 points by the end of the third quarter and Bullets could find no way back. 

Danny Craven and Rashod Johnson each bagged 14 points for Bullets, but it was Brighton's Albert White who led all scorers with 24 personal points, as well as 13 rebounds.
 
 

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