Match Report: Newcastle Eagles 75-61 Spartak Pleven
Newcastle Eagles move to 2-0 in the ENBL with a comfortable 75-61 win over Bulgarian outfit Spartak Pleven.
The Eagles lead early on and never really looked back despite a few decent runs from Spartak, Seneca Knight lead the Eagles with 15 points. Newcastle will be pleased with the win coming off a heavy defeat to the Cheshire Phoenix last Friday, Spartak came into the game already being in 0-2 in ENBL play and just 1-1 in their domestic league. The Eagles having defeated Slovakian side Spisski Rytieri will look to move to 3-0 in ENBL play in two weeks’ time when they face Donar Groningen.
Marc Steutel’s Eagles came out the blocks fast starting the game with an 11-0 run highlighted by a fantastic block from Centre Malcolm Delpeche.
Pleven then began to get it going but they were punished by Cole Long coming off the bench and hitting 3-triples in his first three attempts, the first quarter ended with the Eagles on top 25-12.
Spartak’s Milan Zahariev upped the tempo early in the second quarter with five quick points to put his team back into the game. The Eagles would get into some foul trouble midway through the quarter with both Delpeche and Defoe having to sit with three early fouls, Pleven were not able to take advantage of these opportunities however starting the game just two for seven from the charity stripe. Spartak did win the quarter 19-11 making it 36-31 Eagles at the half.
The Eagles came out hot in the second half, with a highlight alley-oop from Mike Okauru to Delpeche as part of an 11-3 run that saw them take a commanding 47-34 lead. Spartak struggled to contain Delpeche as he got seven quick points in the third quarter helping the Eagles to a 56-43 lead going into the fourth quarter.
In the final quarter the Eagles managed to hold firm and hold off any Spartak comeback, the closest the visitors could get was an eight-point deficit with around two minutes to go but a big three from Joshua Ward-Hibbert iced the game for the Eagles, with a 75-61 final being relatively comfortable in the end.
Knight, Delpeche and Long lead the way for Newcastle who got the win despite shooting just 31% from the field. The Eagles’ defensive intensity and timely scoring earned them a well-deserved win.
Up next the the Eagles will go on the road to face the Sheffield Sharks in a key SLB Trophy game, Newcastle’s next ENBL game will take place at home against Dutch side Donar Groningen on the 5th of November.
