Bristol Flyers gained a measure of revenge on Seriös Group Newcastle Eagles to claim their fifth straight British Basketball League win.
The Flyers bounced back from their earlier loss to the Eagles in September by dominating the rebounding battle, with Tevin Olison scoring 27 points to beat Newcastle 97-83 at the SGS College Arena on Saturday.
Supporting Olison, two Bristol players, Brad Greene and Rowell Graham-Bell, registered double-doubles with Greene going 19 points and 17 rebounds and Graham-Bell adding 16 points and 11 rebounds.
Newcastle’s Rickey McGill exploded for 36 points, hitting back-to-back 30-point games, but it wasn’t enough for the Eagles on this occasion.
Bristol Flyers starting five: Te’Jon Lucas, Tevin Olison, Kedrian Johnson, Rowell Graham-Bell, Brad Greene.
Seriös Group Newcastle Eagles starting five: Rickey McGill, Devon Whitfield, Jordan Johnson, Malcolm Delpeche, Tajh Green.
First half
With Bristol and Newcastle coming off games 48 and 24 hours ago respectively, it would have been expected that both sides be sluggish and slow.
But on the contrary, both sides flew out the gates and attacked each other hard; the hosts started better, scoring six second-chance points to take a 16-9 advantage early on.
In the first four minutes, the Eagles were 5/7 from the field and despite trailing, they were still solid from the field, but they weren’t boxing out when Bristol put shots up.
The pace increased following the timeout midway through the first as Jordan Johnson and Olison traded scores, with the Flyers leading 28-25 in an electrifying first quarter.
Despite both teams having travelled a total of 627 miles over the last 45 hours and playing in competitive encounters, the pace and intensity continued from the first quarter.
Bristol led for the majority but Johnson found a crack in the defence to lay it home to tie the game at 35-35 with 4:56 remaining in the half.
The hosts managed to snatch the lead back and hang on 49-44 at the half as they out-rebounded Newcastle 22-12, with 13 second-chance scores being the main difference.
However, the Eagles went to the locker room knowing that one of Bristol’s main offensive juggernauts, Te’Jon Lucas, was on four fouls.
Second half
With Lucas stuck on four fouls, it was imperative that someone needed to step up for the Flyers, and they had players to fill that role.
Corey Samuels was the player to rise to the occasion.
The one-time Bristol Academy Flyers product, who came in just 7/22 for the season so far, caught fire with back-to-back three-pointers. This gave his side a 57-46 advantage with just under three minutes in the quarter played.
Eagles were reeling and thanks to McGill, stayed in touch. But Bristol continued to execute and lead with the added bonus that Lucas came in at the 4:01 mark and didn’t pick up a fifth foul.
Lucas not only survived, but thrived as he became a factor in the final quarter with a sweet round-the-back pass to Greene for the dunk — the highlight of a fourth period where the Eagles didn’t get going and Bristol flew away with it.
Player of the Game
It was a great team performance from the Flyers with five players in double figures, as well as two players recording double-doubles; but Tevin Olison’s overall tally of 27 points, going 11/19 from the floor was the standout.
They said
“It felt very good. It was hard-fought in the first half but once we got ahead, as a team, we made sure to show what kind of team we are.
“We had spells in the Manchester game where we didn’t show our best but with six wins [in all competitions] in a row, I feel this group is great and we’re just going to keep rolling,” — Bristol Flyers’ Brad Greene.
“[That was] Flyers basketball. We shared the basketball, 25 assists, five guys in double digits, 22 offensive rebounds, it was a team win.
“We knew [Newcastle] had a game last night, so we just wanted to fight for every possession. We talked about it and it’s great to come out with a big win.” — Bristol Flyers Head Coach Andreas Kapoulas
| Team | Player | Points | Rebounds | Assists |
| Bristol Flyers | Tevin Olison | 27 | 3 | 6 |
| Bristol Flyers | Brad Greene | 19 | 17 | 3 |
| Newcastle Eagles | Rickey McGill | 36 | 2 | 4 |
| Newcastle Eagles | Jordan Johnson | 17 | 3 | 2 |
With the new season here, you can get your British Basketball fix by following the League on social media or heading to our YouTube channel to relive all of the best moments from the season so far.
