BBL Championship: Bristol Flyers continue fine form with victory over Newcastle Eagles

The Bristol Flyers extended their excellent start to the BBL Championship campaign with a win over the Newcastle Eagles, while the Manchester Giants beat the Glasgow Rocks and the Sheffield Sharks edged the Plymouth City Patriots.

Here's a look back on the league action over the past week...

Flyers continue fine form

The Flyers improved to 4-1 on the year in the Championship as they continued their impressive start to the campaign with a 73-55 victory over the Eagles.

Bristol were dominant at the board, grabbing 19 more rebounds than their opponents as Trejon Jacob (13), Marcus Delpeche (13) and Raphell Thomas-Edwards (11) all reached double-figures, while Jacob and Delpeche earned double-doubles as they scored 20 and 11 points, respectively.

Corey Johnson led in scoring for the Eagles with 13, with Duke Shelton following just behind with 12, but the Eagles only managed to score 18 points in the paint compared to their opponents, who managed an impressive 46.

Giants edge Rocks

The Sky Sports cameras captured a fast-paced thriller between Manchester Giants and Glasgow Rocks in the North West, but the latter fell short in each quarter on the road ahead of their own BBL Cup semi-final clashes coming up this week.

Manchester were led by Tyrik Armstrong in points (21) and assists (nine), Dan Clark in rebounds (13) and blocks (three) and Jamell Anderson in steals (four) but each player on the roster played their part in the victory including Will Saunders who punished the Rocks from behind the line with 18 points of his own.

Alasdair Fraser and Jordan Harris dropped 18 points each for the Rocks, while Jordan Johnson and Jaycee Hillsman also reached double-figures for points, but player/coach Gareth Murray will definitely be looking to ensure his team makes plenty more stops on Sunday when they face the Giants once again.

Sharks edge Patriots

Sheffield Sharks beat the Plymouth City Patriots 66-61 in a tight affair on Wednesday evening behind 18 points, three rebounds and three assists from Rodney Glasgow Jr.

After a solid defensive start from Patriots, Sharks went three from three behind the arc to open up a 19-12 after a low-scoring first quarter.

Patriots responded well in the second, limiting Sharks to just nine points in the quarter while scoring 17 themselves to give them a one-point lead of 29-28 going into the halftime break.

The teams exchanged baskets in the third and could barely be separated. Sheffield won the quarter 15-11 to give themselves a 43-40 lead going into the last.

Patriots were unable to close the gap in the last, despite Rowell Graham Bell finishing with a game-high 21 points along with nine assists, and slipped to defeat.

Lions lose in Europe

London Lions lost 107-82 against Bahçeşehir Koleji in their opening FIBA Europe Cup round two game.

Lions had started well and raced into a five-point lead after the opening quarter, leading their Turkish counterparts 27-22 Bahcesehir, however, hit back in the second, outscoring the visitors 28-22 in the period to take a one-point lead into the break.

It would be a gap that would only widen after half-time as the home side won the third quarter 30-12 to take the game away from Lions.

They added 27 points in the last while limiting Lions to 21 to wrap up a comfortable victory.

Jamar Desean Smith finished with a game-high 20 points for the hosts while Marquis Teague led the scoring for Lions with 19.

The BBL action continues on Friday when the Leicester Riders take on the Newcastle Eagles live on Sky Sports Mix from 7pm.