| Glasgow Rocks | 86 |
| Guildford Heat | 75 |
Newcastle Eagles and Glasgow Rocks resurrect an old cross-border rivalry to tip off this weekend's BBL Championship action, as the Rocks look to avenge their 86-90 home court loss at the hands of the Eagles last time the two sides met. Although UK Basketball fans talk of an intense rivalry, the Eagles have won 39 matches against the Rocks compared to Rocks' 25 wins, and Rocks' player-coach Sterling Davis is expecting a challenging game: 'I think their main strength is their versatility' he said: ' They have the depth to throw many different options at you and guys that can play at least three positions on floor' he added: ' Another very important strength is the number of veteran leaders they have.'
Although the Eagles come into the game off the back of successfully defending their BBL Trophy prize, player-coach Fabulous Flournoy is demanding that his side re-focus on the league and Play-off titles, starting with the Rocks on Thursday: 'This will be another tough test for us. The Rocks are currently third in the league table and will want to secure a top four spot for the play-offs' he continued: 'As the regular season draws to an end, our weekly match ups begin to become more important. This will be the second time we face the Rocks this season. In our first meeting back in October, we were just able to edge out and get the win, and since then both team have had different twist and turns.'
Flournoy made it clear that, just like the Trophy rivalry with the Jets being reignited on Sunday, he is looking forward to this game. He added: 'This game will spark the age old rivalry between our clubs that will intensify as the season draws to an end. They have had recent blow dealt to them with the injury of Rob Yanders, arguably the best point guard in our league, which now means that the other players are stepping up to fill the void. (Jessie) Sapp is having an amazing season, (Mike) Copeland is also solid, whilst Sterling (Davis) and (Gareth) Murray, provide leadership and experience. The X-Factors for them are Mike (Crowell) and Steve (Parillon).'
The Eagles are going from strength to strength at the moment, with their Trophy Final 111-95 victory over the Jets, coming after they convincingly dealt with Worthing Thunder 113-70 last Friday. Flournoy said he saw last weekend as a test that his players passed with flying colours, and the start of great things to come this season. He concluded: 'Last weekend was big for us. We maintained our league position with a win over Worthing, then in the Trophy Final we just maintained the defence from Friday, with a big run in the second and third quarter which the Jets were unable to recover from. It was a milestone in our club's history winning this Trophy again, and I hope it will act as a springboard for the League and the Play-off titles.'
Posted on 24 March, 2010
