Newcastle Eagles blown out by 25 in second game in three days

Tired legs proved a challenge against the fresh Sheffield Sharks who played their second match in 10 days, while the Eagles come off their second in three days.

Javion Ogunyemi, Channel Banks Jr, Marcus Delpeche combined for 42 of the Sharks 43 bench points and 87 on the night; nearly outscoring the whole eagles roster who only managed to score 62.

The Sharks also took advantage of the Eagles 31 fouls which lead to 37 Shark free throws, 29 of their points came at the charity stripe.

Poor shooting performances and stellar Shark defense saw only Lesley Varner, 13, and Javion Hamlet, 10, score double digit points.

Coming off an enthusiastic win against this season’s shocking team (so far), the Bristol Flyers, Marc Steutel wanted to extend the win streak to two.

The first half was a promising start for the ninth place team in the BBL.

Overall, the first half was a tightly contested contest that saw six lead changes and two ties.

The hosts saw themselves enter the second quarter with a three point lead better than their previous outing with the Eagles where they dealt with a tie game after the first quarter.

The second quarter saw the Tyne and Wear team shoot 2-13 on the floor in which they shot 0-8 behind the arch. The Sharks took advantage of the shooting troubles going 7-12 on the floor and going 1-2 behind the arch.

The continuous foul trouble started before halftime for the eagles with personal and technical fouls being called on Steutel and David Cohn.

Although the second quarter was the eagle’s best defensively, the Sharks still doubled the amount of points scored by the Eagles racking up a total of 18 points.

All of this lead to a 12 point lead for the Sharks, something they could not enter the locker room with last game after trailing the Eagles by one on October 14.

The second half was nothing short of the Sharks taking care of business.

They rebounded well, finishing the game with 42, 11 of which were offensive rebounds contributing to their seven second chance points.

They kept offensive board giant Duke Shelton at bay only allowing him one offensive rebound.

Atiba Lyons also enjoyed watching team basketball as his side put together 24 assists

Forward pair Donovan Johnson and Defoe fouled out for the Eagles with over five minutes left in the game.

The Sharks went on a 10 point scoring run, growing their advantage to 28 on the night before the Eagles managed to chip three points back in their second blowout loss of the season.

The Sheffield Sharks will look to continue their dominance at home against league leading London Lions.

The Newcastle Eagles will look to bounce back (yet again) against the Plymouth City Patriots at Vertu Motors Arena hosting the first of four home games over the next month.