| The wins and milestones keep on coming for the Esh Group Eagles Newcastle, who opened up a two-point lead at the top of the BBL Championship over the weekend.Having opened the season with a defeat, the Eagles have since won six Championship games in a row to climb to first in the standings.
Charles Smith’s 20-point haul in Friday night’s 105-78 defeat of Surrey United, saw the veteran reach 6,000 points in a trophy-laden BBL career that dates back to 1999.
His haul at London Lions on Sunday was a more modest 9 points, but Eagles still had enough from elsewhere to record a 69-56 win; Darius Defoe enjoying a double-double of 19 points and 12 rebounds.
The Lions, who had been the Championship’s last unbeaten team, were led by Lovell Cook’s 25 points.
“Charles has had an incredible career, with a bit more to come,” said Eagles’ player-coach Fab Flournoy, who became the first coach in BBL history to record 150 away wins with the victory in London.
“He is an ultimate professional and has put up these numbers in winning teams. It’s an incredible achievement and I think I would have to play until I was 90 to match it!”
Flournoy added, “This weekend was a good one for us. The first twenty minutes at London was probably our best 20 of the season but the second half does show we still have a lot more to do to get to where we want to be.” |
