Newcastle Eagles have retained the BBL Trophy this season after a 111-95 defeat of Cheshire Jets, at Guildford Spectrum yesterday, making it their fourth Trophy title in six years. The Eagles epitomised their ‘team first’ Philosophy in the big game, as they had five players in double figures, and nine of their ten players saw playing time. They were led by MVP Charles Smith, who had 27 points and 9 rebounds to his name, whilst Darius Defoe was all-action in his 18 minutes on the floor as he scored 21 points, a personal tally matched by Joe Chapman, who was a constant threat from long range. Team GB Captain Andrew Sullivan had 17 points to his name, whilst Reggie ‘Action’ Jackson added 10.

For the Jets, who were missing James Hamilton through injury, Shawn Myers was the standout performer, as he notched 28 points and 14 rebounds. Colin O’Reilly had a typically solid performance with 18 points, whilst Steven Gayle and Chez Marks added 14 points each.

Despite losing convincingly in the end, it was the Jets who made the better start, as a Colin O’Reilly three point play capped off a 7-0 run, by Lynard Stewart then scored for the Eagles to spark a 14-0 run for them. Two threes from Joe Chapman and one from Andrew Sullivan ensured that the first quarter belong to Eagles at 24-15.

Reggie Jackson made Newcastle’s lead a double-digit one early on in the second quarter (27-15), but Shawn Myers sank a triple and made a three point play, to reduce the score to 29-26, but his former team broke the game open with a devastating 35-16 run which meant that Fabulous Flournoy’s team led 64-42 at the half time buzzer.

From here, the Eagles never looked back, taking the third quarter 89-63, and their lead peaked in the fourth stanza at 100-69. A 6-0 burst to get the score to less than 20 points was all the Jets could muster, as the Eagles ran out winners to take their first piece of silverware this season.