Eagles bounce back to winning ways in Capital

NEWCASTLE Eagles resumed their title challenge with a comfortable win at PAWS London Capital.

The defending champions sit four points behind Sheffield Sharks in second but slipped up last weekend with a 104-90 defeat at Worthing Thunder.

But the Eagles put things right at the Capital City Academy, gradually pulling away after a tight first quarter had ended 24-21 in their favour to win 89-69.

Eagles stalwart Darius Defoe led the Newcastle cause with 26 points while Andrew Bridge and Reggie Jackson also contributed for the away side with 16 each.

Elsewhere, third-placed Marshall MK Lions picked up their first points in December with a 108-93 defeat of Airwaves Plymouth Raiders.

The Lions lost at Everton Tigers on Friday and were knocked out of the Cup at Cheshire Jets five days before hand.

With a ten point deficit at half-time the Lions looked like they were heading for a fourth straight defeat, but 25 points from Yorick Williams as well as 22 from EJ Harrison saw them home.

Meanwhile, Glasgow Rocks extended their unbeaten home run to five with a 103-85 defeat of Worthing Thunder.

The Scottish outfit never looked back after establishing a ten point advantage in the first quarter and were clinical in front of the basket with four players netting 18 or more for the Rocks.

Jessie Sapp led the way for the home side with 26 while Mike Copeland scored 19.  Mike Crowell and Rob Yanders each scored 18 for the Rocks while Reggie Bratton netted 31 for the Thunder.

Finally, Cheshire Jets put Saturday's defeat to lowly Essex Pirates behind them with an 85-84 win against Guildford Heat.

The Jets were trailing for most of the game but turned round an 11 point deficit in the final quarter before Chez Marks' three-pointer sealed the win with seven seconds left on the clock.