Worcester Wolves’ unbeaten start is mirroring last season’s run of Leicester Riders after they picked up a pivotal victory in Newcastle to preserve their perfect record. The defending champions, Leicester, moved in to joint second along with Sheffield while London Lions enjoyed a double-winning weekend.
Double-double machine Will Creekmore contributed 16 points and 17 rebounds in the Wolves’ 80-71 win over the Eagles while Zaire Taylor top scored with a 25 point haul. Scott Martin led the hosts with 17 points as well as 14 rebounds but Newcastle made just 2 of 17 attempts from downtown and were unable to hold on to their half-time advantage.
Sheffield were boosted by the return of BJ Holmes and the American marked his second debut with a 19-6-8 stat-line in the Sharks’ 81-67 victory over Durham. Mike Tuck top scored with 21 while Jeremie Simmons added and Devin Ginty had 16 for the visiting Wildcats. Lee Davie’s men fell to a second defeat for the weekend when they travelled to Plymouth without Danny Huffor and RJ Evans as the Raiders collected an 85-73 win to bounce back from Friday’s defeat against London.
In the latest addition of BBL TV, the Lions triumphed over the Devon-based side for the second time this season with Julius Joseph and Rod Brown combining for 43 points in their side’s 100-92 victory. It was to be an even better weekend for London as they followed that up with a hard-fought 80-77 success against Glasgow with the departing Matthew Bryan-Amaning exploding for a 28 point haul.
The Rocks slipped to a 1-4 record in the league having been involved in a scrap with the Riders 24 hours later and it was Leicester, who were able to prevail 81-72 in overtime. Anthony Rowe and Rashad Hassan worked hard in the paint and recorded 16 points each to help their side overcome their slow start after falling 21-9 behind early on.
In the bottom half of the table, Manchester Giants overcame the challenge of Birmingham in the battle for a first win of the season. David Aliu found his shooting form with an impressive 34 points while Stefan Gill got hot from beyond the arc with 8-11 on his way to 28 points. Brent Benson led the Knights in vain once more as he continued his prolific scoring start to the season with a further 29.
Surrey’s first victory still eludes them as Cheshire Phoenix got the better of them with a 99-70 win despite a mammoth double-double from Ceslovas Kucinskas with 25 boards complimented by 23 points. Recent signings Victor Moses and Gerald Robinson impressed for the Nix to lift them above the Rocks in the table.
End of October stats leaders*-
Points- Brent Benson (30.0); Malik Cooke/Reggie Middleton (21.7); Zaire Taylor (21.3)
Rebounds- Ceslovas Kucinskas/Will Creekmore (13.3); Scott Martin (12.1)
Assists- Paul Gause (4.7); Devin Ginty (4.6); Reggie Middleton (4.5)
*via Sporting Pulse (min. 4 games)
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