BBL: Newcastle Eagles beat Surrey Heat to go level on points at top of the table
Newcastle Eagles beat Surrey Heat 89-80 to move level on points with Leicester at the top of the BBL table.
Last Updated: 15/12/12 9:48am
The Eagles have now won five of their last six games while the Heat were defeated on the road for the first time since October.
Damon Huffman led the Eagles with 26 points, including six three-pointers, while Darius Defoe had a double-double of 21 points and 13 rebounds.
The Heat were trailing by just three points with a little over a minute remaining but the Eagles held their nerve as Defoe made his first three-pointer of the season and Anthony Martin scored 4/4 from the line down the stretch.
Elsewhere in the BBL, One Health Sharks Sheffield made it three wins in a row as they claimed a 83-74 victory over Glasgow Rocks in Yorkshire.
Micah Williams led the Sharks with 23 points, while Mike Tuck added 16. The visitors were led by Gareth Murray's 16 points and 9 rebounds.
The third match on Friday saw Manchester Giants make it two wins in a row after a previous run of seven straight defeats by edging North West rivals Cheshire Phoenix 85-83.
The Giants were led by a double-double of 20 points and 15 rebounds from Ben Eaves, ably supported by 19 points from David Watts. Gabriele Haskins scored 31 points for the Phoenix.
Eaves settled the game after Stefan Gill stole the ball and set him up for a dunk with 20 seconds left, with Cheshire subsequently missing a shot which would have tied it up again.
