BBL - Great Britain

British League, Final Four, Final: May 3, 2009
Newcastle Eagles BBL champions 2008-09 (photo newcastle-eagles.co.uk)Newcastle Eagles won their fourth BBL Championship playoff title in five years by beating Everton Tigers 87-84 in the title game at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham on Sunday. As such, Newcastle completed the Triple Crown, adding the playoff trophy to the BBL regular season and the BBL Trophy. Trey Moore paced the winners with 22 points, earning MVP honors. Reggie Jackson added 18 while Darius Defoe had 17 for the Eagles. Richard Midgley led Everton with a career-best 36 points while Olu Babalola added 15 for the Tigers. Jackson buried four three-pointers to make Newcastle get a 36-17 lead at the end of the first quarter. A 2-11 run brought Everton back to life, 38-28, but Newcastle still kept a 51-40 halftime margin. Moore helped the Eagles to make it an 18-point game, 70-52, at the end of the third quarter. Midgley took over in the fourth quarter, bringing Everton within 86-84 with 9 seconds to go. The Tigers fouled on Jackson, that made 1-for-2 free throws. Midgley missed from way downtown at the buzzer. MORE

Final Four, Final, single game
Record Team Game 1
1 Newcastle Eagles (1) 87
0 Everton Tigers (2) 84
BBL Championship Play-off, Champion 2008-09: Newcastle Eagles

Final Four, Semifinals, single game
Record Team Game 1
1 Newcastle Eagles (1) 93
0 Plymouth Raiders (5) 71
1 Everton Tigers (2) 81
0 Leicester Riders (3) 65

Quarterfinals Playoffs, single game
Record Team Game 1
1 Newcastle Eagles (1) 88
0 Cheshire Jets (8) 83
0 Guildford Heat (4) 81
1 Plymouth Raiders (5) 89
1 Everton Tigers (2) 84
0 Scottish Rocks (7) 64
1 Leicester Riders (3) 72
0 Sheffield Sharks (6) 71

Final Four round games
Semifinal Newcastle Eagles vs. Plymouth Raiders 93-71 May 2
Semifinal Everton Tigers vs. Leicester Riders 81-65 May 2
FINAL Newcastle Eagles vs. Everton Tigers 87-84 May 3

Quarterfinals Playoffs round games
Game 1 Leicester Riders vs. Sheffield Sharks 72-71 April 22
Game 1 Newcastle Eagles vs. BiG Storage Cheshire Jets 88-83 April 24
Game 1 Everton Tigers vs. Scottish Rocks 84-64 April 24
Game 1 Guildford Heat vs. Plymouth Raiders 81-89 April 26

LAST GAME GAME 30
April 15-19, 2009
Day Match Result
Apr. 15 Guildford vs. Everton 107-101
Apr. 17 Everton vs. Cheshire 103-97
Apr. 17 Newcastle vs.London Capital 77-64
Apr. 17 Sheffield vs. Scottish 66-62
Apr. 18 Worthing vs. Guildford 78-93
Apr. 18 Leicester vs. Worcester 108-104
Apr. 18 Plymouth vs. MK Lions 76-74
Apr. 19 Guildford vs. Newcastle 96-100
Apr. 19 Worcester vs. Sheffield 100-109
Apr. 19 Scottish vs. Everton 81-71
Apr. 19 Cheshire vs. Worthing 122-83
NEXT GAME  
Quarterfinals Playoffs 
Day Match
- Newcastle (1) vs. Cheshire (8)
- Everton (2) vs. Scottish (7)
- Leicester (3) vs. Sheffiels (6)
- Guildford (4) vs. Plymouth (5)
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STANDINGS TG W L P+ P-
1 Newcastle Eagles 33 28 5 - -
2 Everton Tigers 33 24 9 - -
3 Leicester Riders 33 21 12 - -
4 Guildford Heat 33 21 12 - -
5 Plymouth Raiders 33 20 13 - -
6 Sheffield Sharks 33 16 17 - -
7 Scottish Rocks 33 16 17 - -
8 Cheshire Jets 33 15 18 - -
9 Marshall MK Lions 33 14 19 - -
10 Worcester Wolves 33 11 22 - -
11 Worthing Thunder 33 10 23 - -
12 London Capital 33 2 31 - -


The British Basketball League has two different winners throughout the season. As many as 12 teams will battle against each other through the regular season, and even when eight teams make it to the playoffs, the regular season winner is the British League winner. The top 8 teams are involved in a Final Eight, fighting for a different trophy and one last honour. Two more competitions take place throughout the season: the BBL Trophy, in which teams are divided in groups and the top team in each group advances to a Final Four, and the BBL Cup, a straight knock-off competition through four rounds. The Newcastle Eagles will try to defend its title by keeping player/coach Fab Flournoy and big man Lynard Stewart. The Guildford Heat will be the main candidate to challenge the Eagles for the British Championship, bringing in Keonta Howell and Brad Jones as its main additions. The Plymouth Raiders kept Terrence Durham, Gaylon Moore and DeAntoine Beasley to stay competitive, while teams like the Marshall MK Lions, the Scottish Rocks and the Sheffield Sharks are among the teams with strong chances of reaching the playoffs and fighting for one of the four available titles.