Exploding right from the opening buzzer, the Eagles scored their 16th win in 17 games this season when they dominated the Durham Wildcats, 94-69, on Friday night at the Sports Central.

The Eagles started like a house on fire as they raced to a huge 21-0 lead and they never lost control of the game to keep the Wildcats at bay, thus scoring the convincing victory to solidify their grip on the top spot.

Joe Chapman exploded for 24 points to go with eight rebounds, while Darius Defoe and Andrew Thomson added 14 points apiece, with the latter grabbing 15 rebounds to go with four dimes for the Eagles.

Mario Flaherty, on the other hand, led the Wildcats with 23 points and 15 rebounds, while DJ Glavan added 15 points and seven assists, but it was not enough as they absorbed their 16th defeat against only two wins this season.

Meanwhile, the Riders scored a huge 99-96 win over the MK Lions in a dramatic ending on Friday night at the MK Basketball Centre.

Holding a 96-93 with only 39 seconds left in the game, the Lions looked poise to score an upset, but the Riders found a hero as Cameron Rundles knocked down two straight three-pointers to steal the win for his team, who improved to 12-3 this season.

On the other hand, the Worcester Wolves, the only team to defeat the Eagles this season, stayed second after defeating the Lions, 94-86, on Saturday night.

Tommy Freeman had a brilliant night, finishing with 22 points and 12 rebounds, while Arnas Kazlauskas added 21 points and five rebounds.

Complete BBL Results (February 17 – 19)

• Newcastle Eagles 94 – 69 Durham Wildcats
• MK Lions 96 – 99 Leicester Riders
• Sharks Sheffield 87 – 78 Guildford Heat
• Mersey Tigers 73 – 83 Plymouth Raiders
• Worcester Wolves 94 – 86 MK Lions
• Glasgow Rocks 78 – 80 Cheshire Jets

Led by five players who scored in double figures, the Flyers scored a 93-68 convincing win over their London rivals Brixton Topcats on Saturday night at the WISE Campus.

Doug McLaughlin-Williams was in his usual fiery form as he scored a game-high 22 points, while Roy Owen had his best game with the Flyers, finishing with 19 points and five dimes.

Tyrone Treasure and Davis Bowne also had their shares of the spotlight, racking up 17 points apiece, while Enrique Garcia scored 10 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Flyers, who scored their 12th win in 15 games this season.

The game was a close contest in the first period that ended on a 17-17 deadlock, but the Flyers pulled away in the second period, outscoring the Topcats by 14 points, and they never looked back en route to the convincing victories to the delight of coach Andreas Kapoulas.

“The energy in the building was great and our players played very well especially in the second and third periods of the game,” Kapoulas said. “We moved the ball well on the offensive end and made very good decisions that resulted in high percentage shots.”

Meanwhile, the Trailblazers also improved their record to 12-3 after hammering out a dominating 90-68 win over the Worthing Thunder also on Saturday night in Moorways.

Troy Whittington had an excellent night on both ends of the floor as he finished with 16 points to go with 15 huge rebounds and six blocks, while Rishi Kakad paced their offensive attack with 28 points, highlighted by six three-pointers.

Marcus Tullis, on the other hand, had 19 points and eight rebounds, while Hank Rivers added 17 points and 15 boards, but it was not enough as the Thunder dropped to 10-6, which is still good for fourth in the standings.

With the final spot almost sealed after a 32-point win in the second leg, the Eagles came out oozing with confidence, especially in the second period when they increased their one-point lead in the opening quarter to a 15-point lead at the half.

The Eagles did not relax in the second half and continued to pounce the Sharks en route to their huge win to have a chance of winning their third Trophy title in four years and fifth overall in team history.

“We played well against Sheffield. It would have been easy to come out flat with a lead of 32 and we were determined that that would not happen. In fact we did not consider the aggregate score all night, it was only ever a question of winning the game,” said Eagles coach Fab Flournoy.

“A lot had been said as to the events of the first leg and we wanted it to be absolutely clear to everybody that we would be progressing to the trophy final on the basis of basketball merit alone,” he added.

Joe Chapman had an explosive performance as he racked up 31 points, highlighted by his 7-for-11 clip from beyond-the-arc, while Andrew Thomson added 19 points and eight rebounds for the Eagles, who will be facing the Plymouth Raiders in the finals for the second time this season.

The two teams figured out in an exciting BBL Cup final showdown last month, where the Eagles prevailed to bag their first silverware this season.

Complete BBL Results (February 10 – 12, 2012)

• Newcastle Eagles 104 – 84 Sheffield Sharks
• Worcester Wolves 100 – 80 Plymouth Raiders
• Guildford Heat 77 – 82 Mersey Tigers
• Cheshire Jets 85 – 76 MK Lions
• Plymouth Raiders 84 – 78 Sheffield Sharks
• Durham Wildcats 69 – 97 Leicester Riders

The Trailblazers jumped on the gun in the first half and they never slowed down to score a convincing 71-53 win over the Reading Rockets in their semis clash.

Playing tough defense despite a tough offensive game, the Trailblazers took 14-point lead in the low-scoring first half. The Rockets tried to make some headway in the third period, but the Trailblazers hang on to a 10-point lead heading into the final period and totally took the fight out of their opponent.

Rishi Kakad had a productive night as he finished with 24 points and five steals, while Troy Whittington did the dirty job, racking up 11 points and 18 huge rebounds for the Trailblazers.

Meanwhile, the Flyers booked a seat in the National Trophy finals after escaping with a hard-earned 69-62 win over their National Cup tormentor London Leopards.

The Flyers took control right from the opening period as they raced to an early 24-12 lead and they never looked back, resisting several comeback attempts from the Leopards en route to their final-seat clinching victory.

Davis Bowne led the Flyers with 20 points, while Doug McLaughlin-Williams added 15 points. Vernon Tell top-scored for the losing Leopards with 23 points.

This after the multiple reports came out that NBA will be staging a preseason tour featuring the Dallas Mavericks on October in Barcelona and Germany, who will be participating in the league’s international promotion for the first time since the program started.

The exact schedule and the Mavs’ opponent has not been confirmed yet, but team officials have already confirmed their participation and will actually start their training camp earlier than the original plan to be in competitive form in the two-nation trip.

The 14-year NBA veteran has been featured in several games in Germany during his stint national team prior to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but the fans were clamoring for an NBA pre-season game, which was a long-shot based on the team owner’s vision.

Because of travel demands and trying to get a lot of rest during the pre-season, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban passed up several pre-season tours before, but they could not decline this time considering the fact that Nowitzki is the main attraction in Germany.

Nowitzki, who will be making his 11th all-star appearance, is averaging 18.3 points and 6.2 rebounds in 24 games this season.

Deng, who is averaging 15.8 points and 7.1 rebounds in 22 games with the Chicago Bulls in the current NBA season, was named to 12-man Eastern Conference lineup via voting conducted with the 30 NBA coaches.

Despite missing some games this season, Deng has played a key role for the Bulls, who currently hold the best record in the league with their 23-6 record, which was enough to bring Deng to the All-Star Game on February 26 at the Amway Arena in Orlando.

Deng will be joined by Bulls superstar and teammate Derrick Rose, who was voted by the fans as a starter along with Carmelo Anthony of the New York Knicks, Dwight Howard of the Orlando Magic, and Miami Heat’s LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.

Completing the Eastern Conference reserves are Chris Bosh of the Miami Heat, Paul Pierce of the Boston Celtics, Roy Hibbert of the Indiana Pacers, Andre Iguodala of the Philadelphia 76ers, Joe Johnson of the Atlanta Hawks, and Deron Williams of the New Jersey Nets.

On the other hand, Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum, Los Angeles Clippers’ Blake Griffin and Chris Paul, and Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kevin Durant were named as starters of the Western Conference squad.

Joining them are LaMarcus Aldridge of the Portland Trailblazers, Marc Gasol of the Memphis Grizzlies, Dirk Nowitzki of the Dallas Mavericks, Kevin Love of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns, Tony Parker of the San Antonio Spurs, and Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Schortsanitis, who missed Greece’s campaign in last year’s EuroBasket Men in Lithuania, said that he’s healthy and will be available if the team needs him in their upcoming campaign in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in which three Olympic slots are at stake.

The 26-year-old center was a key factor in Greece’s rise to prominence in world basketball for he was a part of the team that scored the unforgettable upset over USA in the 2006 World Basketball Championship.

“Big Sofo”, as he is fondly known in the world-basketball scene, was also a key factor when Greece won the bronze medal in the 2009 EuroBasket Men, but he was forced to miss last European Championship after her wife suffered complications with her pregnancy.

“For a couple days, it was really tough for me to decide what to do, but I finally decided to step away from the national team,” Schortsanitis said. “The coaches and the people in charge there all helped me. So if they want me, I’ll be there, God willing.”

Greece was drawn in Group A of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament, together with Jordan and Puerto Rico, which will kick off on July 2 in Caracas, Venezuela.

This weekend, Philippine Basketball All-Time greats will be united once again to display their stuffs in London and Liverpool in a pair of exhibition matches for the Filipino community and interested British spectators as well.

Filipinos in England, do you want to relieve the vaunted rivalry between former Purefoods’ Alvin Patrimonio-Jerry Codinera duo against San Miguel’s Allan Caidic-Samboy Lim one-two combo?

If you are, then you should not miss this event sponsored by Lebara in cooperation Genesis Basketball UK, which promotes Philippine Basketball in different parts of the world.

Aside from Patrimonio, Codinera, Caidic, and Lim, the event will also feature former crowd darlings Vince “The Prince” Hizon, Noli “The Tank” Locsin, and Bal “The Flash” David, who all played for Philippine Basketball Association club Ginebra, who is the undisputed crowd-favorite in the Philippines.

Vergel “The Aerial Voyager” Meneses and Nelson “The Bull” Asaytono will also proved that they can still perform their feared gravity-defying moves inside the hardcourt along with other former PBA superstars like Olsen Racela, Bong Ravena, Mike Mustre, and Jun Carmona.

Based on how this tour turned out so well in USA, Canada, Australia, and UAE, this upcoming event is expected to provide topnotch basketball action and entertainment as well so come and be part of Philippine Basketball History unfolding in London and Liverpool this weekend.

Tickets can be purchased at Ticketmaster.

The league-leading Flyers lost their grip on the top spot after absorbing a heart-breaking 73-72 defeat against the Worthing Thunder on Saturday night.

Worthing took control of the game right from the opening period to have a precarious 48-43 lead heading into the final period, where they also started strong to increase the lead to nine points.

The Thunder led as much by 11 points after unleashing a 9-0 attack, but the Flyers responded with a late-game rally, although it was not enough as Worthing held on to the thrilling one-point win.

Marcus Tullis and Hank Rivers led the Thunder with 20 points each, with the former grabbing 12 rebounds, while Davis Browne had 21 points for the Flyers, who dropped to 10-3 this season.

Meanwhile, with the Flyers’ defeat, the Trailblazers did not waste the chance of grabbing the spot as they hammered out a dominating 91-68 win over the Paws London Capitals.

The Capitals looked poise to give their opponent a tough night after racing to an early lead, but the Trailblazers quickly responded with their own attack to take a 23-15 lead at the end of the opening period. Derby took control from then on and never looked back to improve their record to 11 wins and three defeats.

Complete EBL Division One Men Results (February 4-5, 2012)

• Bradford Dragons 66 – 75 Leeds Carnegie
• Medway Park Crusaders 72 – 84 Reading Rockets
• Derby Trailblazers 91 – 68 PAWS London Capitals
• Bristol Academy Flyers 72 – 73 Worthing Thunder
• Westminster Warriors 72 – 74 Tees Valley Mohawks
• BA London Leopards 78 – 66 Brixton Topcats
• Reading Rockets 83 – 80 Tees Valley Mohawks

The Raiders, who blew a chance to earn a title this season after getting defeated by the Newcastle Eagles in the BBL Cup Final, bounced back from a first-leg semis defeat to reach their second consecutive BBL Finals.

After absorbing an 87-81 defeat in the first leg of the semis, the Raiders played with their backs on the wall and were actually in the verge of losing, but they forced a tie on the aggregate score after ending the second leg with a 95-89 lead.

In the overtime, the Raiders stepped up on the defensive end of the floor to shut down the Lions en route to a 107-99 win to clinch the finals seat with a 188-186 win on aggregate.

Paul Williams had a superb all-around performance for the Raiders as he racked up 23 points and 14 rebounds, while Jeremy Bell exploded for 28 points, highlighted by 4-for-6 shooting from beyond-the-arc.

The Raiders will face the winner of the Sheffield Sharks – Newcastle Eagles semis match.

Although the Sharks and the Eagles have yet to play the second leg of their match, Raiders forward Lehmon Colbert is looking forward to have a rematch against BBL Cup finals tormentor Eagles, who scored a dominating 116-84 win in the first leg.

Complete BBL Results (February 3-5, 2012)

• MK Lions 87 – 81 Plymouth Raiders
• Sheffield Sharks 84 – 116 Newcastle Eagles
• Mersey Tigers 72 – 83 Cheshire Jets
• Leicester Riders 74 – 64 Sheffield Sharks
• Worcester Wolves 100 – 102 Newcastle Eagles
• Plymouth Raiders 107 – 99 MK Lions
• Glasgow Rocks 86 – 75 Guildford Heat