Cheshire Phoenix made it six wins in seven against a stubborn Newcastle Eagles side in the British Basketball League.

With Larry Austin Jr leading the charge, Phoenix dominated the first quarter of play.

Newcastle struggled to maintain The Nix’s offensive drive to the paint, with William Neighbour and Tahjai Teague proving problematic.

Cheshire Phoenix vs. Newcastle Eagles (taken by Jordan Ellis and Thomas Morgan)

Marcus Evans found his stride during the game, hitting two three-pointers by the second quarter.

Evans made space for himself nicely throughout the game with some solid dribbling in isolation.

Austin Jr was on a mission to draw fouls all game and it worked to perfection.

The Shooting Guard from Springfield, Illinois, troubled the Eagles’ defence and scored the majority of his 25 points from the free throw line.

Surrey Scorchers VS Cheshire Phoenix in BBL league action (taken by BBL Official Photography)

The Nix reached a 27-point lead through the middle of the second quarter and the Eagles were feeling the pressure.

Eagles point guard David Cohn received his second technical foul after a disagreement with the referee and saw the rest of the game out on the bench.

Tahjai Teague hit a three-point buzzer beater to rub salt in Eagles’ wounds going into the second half, and Phoenix went into half-time with a convincing 56-30 lead.

The Eagles came out in the third quarter with intent.

Justin Gordon grabbed an and-one and a three-pointer while the league’s point per game leader, Javion Hamlet, took some key shots to help reduce the deficit to 10.

The Nix went on a cold streak and struggled to make shots from range.

Teague missed a couple of important three-point attempts that could have strengthened their lead further.

Evans proved to be the spark needed to keep The Nix in control of the game.

The point guard once again showed off some impressive dribbling skills to make enough room to shoot and score.

As pressure rose approaching the end of the fourth quarter, Austin Jr took control of the game and hit some vital shots to secure the victory as he continues to prove himself as the Nix’

The Eagles hit back to back three-pointers towards the last minute of the game to apply some pressure, but it was too late to mount a comeback.

Cheshire Phoenix head coach Ben Thomas was happy with his team’s performance and their ability to work through injuries with a smaller squad.

Ben said: “We came in to the game with a short rotation so it’s a big win and we’re happy with the result.”

The 82-70 victory for Cheshire puts them at 12 wins this season.

And morale should be high going in to The Nix’s game against league leaders London Lions next Sunday.

 

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