GBR - Guildford Heat secured the BBL Championship Play- off Final

BIRMINGHAM (BBL) - Guildford Heat won their first BBL Championship Play- off title on Sunday, thanks to a 100-88 success over Marshall MK Lions at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham.

Lions took an early lead, scoring eight of the opening ten points. Guildford were unable to seriously dent that advantage until a Danny Gilbert three pointer two minutes from the end of the quarter cut it back to four points at 19-15. EJ Harrison then scored four consecutive free throws to tie the game. Indeed, the Heat scored 14 of the final 16 points of the quarter to lead 24-21.

The Heat pulled out their lead to eight points at 31-23 early in the second stanza, but veterans Ronnie Baker and Tony Windless cut the arrears for the MK Lions. Although Guildford pulled ahead again, they were never able to establish a commending lead. Tony Windless and Shawn Jamison combined to bring it back to a one-point ball game at 37-36 to Guildford and Youngblood tied the game at 38-38 with approximately one minute of the half remaining. Nevertheless, it was Guildford who led at the interval 42-41.

Lions took the lead at 49-48 early in the third quarter on the back of six straight points, only for Tony Dorsey to quickly re-establish Guildford's lead. Indeed, Dorsey scored all of the Heat's points in a 7-2 tear to set up a 55-51 lead.

Tony Windless cut it back to one point, before a Danny Gilbert three and a pair of free throws from James Jones took the score to 60-54. Another five points from Gilbert extended that lead still further, but the Heat could not shake the Lions off. A timely Terrell Brown trey cut it back to a 4-point ball game at 65-61 and it was then left to EJ Harrison to finish the scoring, bagging two from the charity stripe, as Guildford led 67-61 heading into the final quarter.

Better was to come for Guildford - they established the first double digit lead of the game at 78-68 on the back of a Gilbert three. It was part of a 10-0 tear, which gave Guildford an 83-68 advantage.

Lions were still not done - Dru Spinks and Kevin Griffin combined to help Lions to an 11-2 tear and suddenly the deficit was back down to seven points at 89-82. However, Lions hopes were quickly dashed by four foul shots in quick succession from Tony Dorsey, after a technical foul on Coach Macaulay following a foul given on Spinks. It was Dorsey too, who took the Guildford score into triple digits, again from the foul line.

Guildford, in fact, scored more points in the final quarter than any other team in Play-off history, as they secured the coveted end-of-season prize.

Danny Gilbert joined an exclusive quartet of players to have scored five three pointers in the Play-off Final, as part of his game-high 27 points, which earned him the MVP award. Dru Spinks was the Lions' highest scorer, to not avail.

BBL Championship Play-off 3rd/4th Place Play- off
Newcastle Eagles 92 (32,54,67) (Babalola 23, Attah/Defoe/Spragg12)
Kularoos Plymouth Raiders 96 (19,33,66) (Moore 26, Lasker 19, Noel 16)

Kularoos Plymouth Raiders came from behind to defeat Newcastle Eagles in the BBL Championship 3rd/4th Place Play-off, by a score of 96-92.

Eagles were fastest out of the blocks, bagging the opening 12 points of the game, including two three pointers from Olu Babalola. The Raiders rallied and cut the gap to seven points at 17-10. Newcastle again picked up their offence and enjoyed a 10-5 burst on their way to a 32-19 first quarter lead.

Brody Bishop boosted Plymouth early in the second stanza with two impressive three pointers as the gap was reduced back to single figures at 35-28. Eagles rallied and hit 12 of the next 14 points to pull their advantage out to 17 points at 47-30 - Darius Defoe and Sam Attah bagging the majority of the points.

With Eagles lead at 54-33 heading into the third quarter, Plymouth came out of the locker room on fire and an Andrew Lasker three pointer at the end of a 21- 5 start saw them within a score of the Eagles at 59-56 to Newcastle. Lasker kept up his scoring streak as Raiders took the lead at 64-61. However, with Charles Smith bagging a vital long range shot to tie the game at 66-66 with 50 seconds to go, Newcastle then scored from the foul line to take a one-point lead into the fourth quarter at 67-66.

A pulsating final quarter followed, with the lead changing hands several times. First it was Plymouth in the ascendancy, Gaylon Moore significantly contributing to a 75-71 Plymouth lead, but Newcastle hit back and Olu Babalola's three pointer put them 76- 75 to the good.

The teams traded baskets for the next few minutes, with neither team able to carve out any significant advantage. In the end, it was Anthony Martin and Gaylon Moore who made the difference, hitting eight consecutive points to give the south coast club an 89- 84 lead.

On three occasions Newcastle pulled the score back to within two points, but Andrew Lasker made the game safe for Raiders with the final basket in the closing seconds.

As in Saturday's semi-final, Gaylon Moore was the top scorer - he bagged 26 personal points and pulled down 8 boards on the way to victory, ably assisted by Andrew Lasker's 19 points. Olu Babalola was Eagles star man with 23 points. 

British Basketball League