Gladiators and Scorchers prevail in all-BBL clashes, whereas Trailblazers develop into first Nationwide League facet to advance to subsequent spherical of BBL Trophy

BBL Trophy
Caledonia Gladiators 97 – 86 Newcastle Eagles (25-22, 22-17, 25-22, 25-25)
(Gladiators – Bailey 31, Tape 17, Sloan 12, Bunyan 12; Eagles – Hamlet 19, D. Johnson 17, Defoe 17)

BBL Trophy
Bristol Flyers 72 – 78 Surrey Scorchers (26-11, 13-27, 13-22, 20-18)
(Flyers – King 15, Bell Iii 13, Delpeche 12, Miller 12; Scorchers – Wang 18, Jacdonmi 18, Taylor 12)

BBL Trophy
Derby Trailblazers 91 – 67 Basketball Wales (30-12, 23-20, 24-16, 14-19)
(Trailblazers – Dieterich 17, Harrison 13, Could-Thompson 12, Perry 12; Wales – Koukouravas 17, Farrell 15, Karras 8, Woog 8)

Caledonia Gladiators welcomed the Newcastle Eagles to the Emirates Enviornment in an all-BBL match-up as a part of the BBL Trophy, with the 2 groups placing on a terrific present in a excessive scoring recreation that finally completed 97-86 in favour of the house facet.

Jeremiah Bailey led the Gladiators with 31 factors, 12 rebounds and 6 assists – adopted by Patrick Tape with 17 factors and 11 rebounds.

Javion Hamlet’s 19 factors, six rebounds and 5 assists, weren’t sufficient for the Eagles.

The sport began in essentially the most NBA manner doable, with each groups splashing threes within the first two possessions, first with Donovan Johnson for Newcastle after which with Bailey for Caledonia.

David Sloan then drained one other triple only a minute later, placing his workforce up 6-3, earlier than scoring from contained in the paint and rising the Gladiators’ result in 8-3, on the again of an 8-0 run. 

The Scots began on hearth from downtown, with Sloan hitting one other three, making that 3/3 for his workforce and a pair of/2 for him personally and giving the house facet a six-point lead (11-5).

Two consecutive long-range jumpers from Jonny Bunyan elevated Caledonia’s result in 9 factors (17-8), forcing Newcastle coach Marc Steutel right into a timeout.

No matter he instructed his gamers labored, as Jermel Kennedy stole the ball, dished it to David Cohn, who went coast to coast and completed laborious on the basket for the and-one.

The Eagles scored one other and-one with lower than a minute to play till the tip of the quarter, after Darius Defoe drove to the baseline, went beneath the basket and dished it to Denzel Ubiaro for the straightforward two.

The second interval began in a a lot slower tempo than the primary, with the 2 defences firmly on high, because the rating after the primary 4 minutes was simply 2-2.

Issues picked up drastically after that although, first with Bailey for the Glads with a fadeaway jumper off the glass after which with Kennedy changing yet one more Newcastle and-one play to make the rating 29-27.

Two free throws by Defoe tied the rating at 29 apiece for the primary time for the reason that begin of the match with 5 minutes to go till the half.

Simply when it regarded just like the momentum was swinging in favour of the guests, Caledonia exploded on an 18-3 run to take a 47-32 lead – whereas one in all their finest gamers, Sloan, was caught on the bench with three fouls, having performed solely seven minutes.

First Fraser Malcolm hit a long-range triple rising the hole to seven factors (37-30), earlier than Kyle Jimenez scored an up and beneath lay-up to make it 41-32 and forcing a Newcastle timeout.

Caledonia’s rhythm was not disturbed, nonetheless, with Bailey giving his workforce their first double-digit lead when he discovered an open lane and completed with a finger roll (43-32).

Bailey capped off the extraordinary 18-3 run with a pair of free throws, with one minute left to go till the 2 sides headed to the locker rooms.

Simply when it appeared that the Gladiators have been going to shut out the half firmly on high, Newcastle placed on a fast 7-0 run and closed the deficit to single digits (47-39), after Ubiaro’s floater managed to beat the buzzer.

The Eagles began the second half with a objective, with Johnson scoring a lay-up on the primary possession, to chop the deficit much more (47-41).

The Gladiators nonetheless managed to make it double-digit recreation (52-41) as soon as once more off the again of a 5-0 run.

That was adopted by a Newcastle 8-0 run this time, with a Johnson triple making it a one possession recreation (52-49).

Though Johnson had executed a lot of the work to deliver the guests inside shut vary of their opponents, it was now time for Javion Hamlet to take over, who together with his lay-up gave the Eagles their first lead of the sport for the reason that very first possession (54-55) with six minutes to go till the tip of the third quarter.

A steal by Tape and a lay-up on the transition by Bailey put the Scots again within the lead, and a 7-0 run was capped off by Bailey’s four-point play to offer them a double-digit lead as soon as once more (69-59).

The ultimate interval began with Malcolm hitting nothing however web on one other triple (3/3 for the sport) after which getting a block on the defensive finish on the very subsequent play.

His teammates fed off this power and a long-range three by Bunyan gave Caledonia their largest lead of the sport (80-63) with six-and-a-half minutes left to play till the ultimate buzzer.

The Eagles weren’t going to simply roll over and went on a 9-0 run to chop the deficit to single digits (84-76) with three minutes to go.

An and-one play by Tape on the subsequent play stopped Newcastle’s momentum and gave the Gladiators a double-digit lead as soon as once more, which they held till the tip.

With this win, Caledonia booked their spot within the subsequent spherical the place they may face the London Lions who beat D1 facet Worthing Thunder final evening (January 12).

Within the different of the 2 all-BBL match ups, the Surrey Scorchers travelled west to face off in opposition to the Bristol Flyers, coming away with a hard-earned W 72-78.

Padiet Wang and Boban Jacdonmi led the Scorchers with 18 factors every, with Vincent ‘VJ’ King ending as high scorer for the Flyers with 15.

The primary quarter noticed Bristol storm forward to an 11-3 lead inside three-and-a-half minutes, led by King’s 5 factors and their glorious defence that pressured Surrey into some powerful photographs and turnovers.

The Scorchers nonetheless managed to place collectively a 6-0 run, topped off by a Jacdonmi dunk, that noticed them shut the hole to 2 (11-9).

A ten-0 run, this time by the house workforce, noticed the Flyers take their first double-digit lead of the sport (21-9), and it was completed off by a Corey Samuels long-range triple.

One other three, this time by Thomas Bell III with simply 15 seconds to play till the tip of the primary interval, noticed his facet take their largest lead of the sport and shut out the primary 10 minutes up 26-11.

Whereas the primary quarter was dominated by Bristol, the second was dominated by Surrey.

Earlier than that occurred, nonetheless, the house facet managed to extend their result in 17 (31-14) – which was their largest lead of the sport.

With slightly below 5 minutes to play till the 2 groups headed to the locker rooms, the Flyers have been up by a cushty 15 factors (37-22) and seemed to be cruising.

The Scorchers weren’t going to surrender with no battle, and went on an excellent 14-0 run that noticed them flip the sport on its head and make it a one-point deficit (37-36), when Quincy Taylor laid the ball in.

The second half noticed the guests proceed from the place they’d left off, with Wang hitting a triple on their first possession, giving his workforce their first lead of your entire recreation (39-41).

The 2 groups exchanged buckets for the subsequent jiffy, with the match completely balanced as a one-possession Surrey lead till the five-minute mark, when Taylor’s long-range jumper put the Scorchers up by 5 (45-50).

Ryan Martin then transformed from downtown to increase that result in eight (45-53), which was Surrey’s largest lead of the sport up to now.

A pair of free throws by Andrew Lawrence on the finish of the interval noticed the Scorchers take a double-digit lead for the primary time within the match (49-60), earlier than a Bell III triple closed the hole to 52-60.

With the primary three quarters all one-sided – both for one workforce or the opposite – the expectation can be that the fourth can be the identical.

Nonetheless, that didn’t occur, with the ultimate 10 minutes being essentially the most balanced of the entire recreation.

The 2 sides exchanged a few threes on the primary two possessions and continued to trade baskets for the primary 5 minutes, with the lead staying across the 10-point mark (61-70).

A lay-up by Lawrence a few minutes later even noticed Surrey go up by as many as 14 (61-75) – which signified their largest lead in the entire recreation.

Regardless of the Flyers not giving up and occurring an 11-3 run to shut out the sport, they finally left it too late and the guests managed to cap off one other huge win to proceed their 2023 surge.

With this dub the Scorchers will transfer to the subsequent spherical the place they may face the winners of the tie between Cheshire Phoenix and Nottingham Hoods that can happen on Sunday 15 January.

The final of the evening’s matches didn’t function any BBL sides – Basketball Wales travelled to the Midlands to face off in opposition to the Derby Trailblazers, with the house facet popping out on high 91-67.

Jonas Dieterich led the Trailblazers with 17 factors and 7 rebounds, adopted by Jase Harrison with 13 factors.

Alex Koukouravas with 17 factors and Rhys Farrell with 15 weren’t sufficient for Wales to safe the W.

The sport began with Derby speeding forward to a double-digit lead throughout the first 4 minutes, when Harrison laid the ball in for the straightforward two (13-3).

In a primary quarter that was dominated by the house facet – which noticed them rating a game-high 30 factors – the Trailblazers didn’t let their foot off the gasoline, going up by as many as 15 (23-8), when Eric Donaldson drove to the basket for the lay-up.

A 7-0 run by the house facet – capped off by a 3 by Ryan Bruggeman – noticed them take a 20-point lead (30-10) with simply over a minute to play till the tip of the interval.

The second quarter was a way more balanced affair, with Derby solely edging it by three factors (23-20).

The 2 sides exchanged baskets all through, earlier than a long-range effort from downtown by Dieterich noticed the D1 facet take their largest lead of the sport (51-25).

A 7-2 run by the Welsh facet noticed them head to the locker rooms with a little bit of momentum, closing out the half down 53-32.

Regardless that the guests minimize the hole all the way down to beneath 20 after scoring the primary factors of the second half, Derby went on one other run – this time 8-0 – to go up by as many as 27 (61-34).

Regardless of a valiant effort by the guests, the house facet have been proving too robust, and one other three from Dieterich – who completed 3/7 from behind the arc – noticed them take a 30-point lead (71-41), with simply over three minutes left till the tip of the third.

Wales didn’t quit, and with large hustle managed to win the ultimate 10 minutes (14-19), saving their finest until final.

Sadly, that wasn’t sufficient to see them pull off an enormous upset, with Derby progressing to the subsequent spherical, the place they may face off in opposition to BBL facet Plymouth Metropolis Patriots who defeated St Mirren final week (January 7).

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