Scorchers rattle Eagles at Sports Park

Surrey Scorchers almost defied the odds on Sunday afternoon as they came within a few minutes of defeating reigning champions the Newcastle Eagles at Surrey Sports Park.

Jordan Williams posted an impressive 21pts/10rb haul in the 69-80 defeat, which saw Surrey push Eagles all the way into Q4 and almost secure their first home victory since December.

Scorchers fans gave a warm welcome to debutant Mike Anderson who featured in Coach Creon Raftopoulos’ starting 5 to open the meeting with an assist, getting Williams on the board early doors in the process. Despite this start Surrey found themselves as many as 8 points down in the opening period, before tying the game level at the end of Q1 only for Eagles to net at 2 right on the buzzer for the lead.

Williams went into full flow dunk mode in Q2 to keep Scorchers hopes of taking points from the game alive, but Newcastle were allowed to extend their lead to a tight 5 points at the halfway mark.

Eagles pushed on early in Q3, but Scorchers turned it on and produced a fine 10-2 run to hand the hosts their first lead of the game thanks to a 3 pointer from captain Tayo Ogedengbe. He extended the advantage to 4 late on in the quarter, but Scorchers were forced to settle with a 2 point lead at 60-58 with a single stanza remaining.
A Ross-Miller defensive rebound allowed Anderson to push Surrey into a handsome 5 point lead early into Q4 but Eagles were able to use their roster depth late on to close out the game, with Rahmon Fletcher scoring 5 straight points in a 12-1 run resulting in another oh-so-near loss for Scorchers.

If hard work earned points in the BBL Championship, nobody could deny Scorchers a spot at the opposite end of the table.

Coach Creon will be making full use of the short break ahead for his side, with their next outing a week on Tuesday (22nd) when they travel to the Copper Box Arena to face the London Lions (7.30pm tip-off).

Scorchers return to Surrey Sports Park on Good Friday for a triple-header of basketball activity:
– Game Day Junior Basketball Camp – click here for info and to book.
– Sevenoaks Suns vs Team Northumbria, 4.30pm (Women’s BBL) – free entry, no tickets required.
– Surrey Scorchers vs Leicester Riders, 7pm (BBL Championship) – click here for tickets.

Box Scores

Click here for the full BBL LiveStats.

Nice rebound @Tayotweets then there's @YM4williams for the DUNK! 6-all #ScorchersLive #TheBBL pic.twitter.com/M76SbwqC4c

— Surrey Scorchers (@surreyscorchers) March 13, 2016

Timeout Scorchers as @YM4williams goes to 12pts. Eagles lead 33-40 #ScorchersLive pic.twitter.com/vqjwYEcwfT

— Surrey Scorchers (@surreyscorchers) March 13, 2016

.@KCRossMiller12 goes solo for 2 and it's a tied game at 54-all! #ScorchersLive #TheBBL ? @BBLofficial pic.twitter.com/7XlrzoE7Jn

— Surrey Scorchers (@surreyscorchers) March 13, 2016

TAYOOOOOOOOOO with the 3 and SCORCHERS LEAD 59-56 @Tayotweets #ScorchersLive #TheBBL pic.twitter.com/7hACvHvXnU

— Surrey Scorchers (@surreyscorchers) March 13, 2016