Newcastle Eagles, led by a record-breaking Charles Smith, proved too strong for United as Surrey slipped to another defeat on the road, this time to last years’ BBL Champions. Charles Smith further cemented his place in British basketball history by reaching 6,000 BBL points as part of a crushing 105-78 win over Surrey United at Sport Central on Friday night.
Smith managed to reach the 20 point haul required to reach his milestone and the impressive Eagles kept up the pressure on their title rivals by going 5 and 1 at the top of the table.
Newcastle Eagles 105 (20, 50, 79) (Defoe 21, Smith 20, Fletcher 15)
Surrey United 78 (16, 38, 56) (Knutson 24, Setty 16, West 15)
Surrey had started well, jumping out to an 8-3 lead behind a Trevor Setty triple, but unfortunately, that was the only time the travelling side held the lead as it wasn’t long before the champions showed their class.
Darius Defoe continued his impressive start to the season as he poured in a team-high 21 points for the Eagles and although Coach Majewski’s side managed to keep Newcastle within touching distance to begin with, that turned around in the second half.
Fab Flournoy hit a rare three-pointer to beat the half-time buzzer and increase the deficit to 12 and after that it proved a tough night for United. From there on in, Newcastle were in complete control, ever stretching their lead and saw out the remainder of the game with minimal fuss.
A 27 point margin between the two teams was probably a fair reflection of the dominance of the champions, but a spirited United performance had Surrey’s Kramer Knutson scoring a game-high 24 points to go with 18 rebounds and shine as the visitors standout performer. It was also an improvement on last seasons’ 31 and 44 point mauling’s that Newcastle handed out whilst Surrey sat bottom of the table.
Surrey have a week away from BBL action before travelling to new BBL side Leeds Force on Friday 7 November and tickets for Surrey United’s next home match at Surrey Sports Park are now on sale HERE.
Image sourced from: http://tinyurl.com/nq2d4k2