Friday 14th November 2025
Super League Basketball Championship
Newcastle Eagles 95 B. Braun Sheffield Sharks 99
The resilient B. Braun Sheffield Sharks claimed their third win in a row with some fourth quarter heroics at Newcastle Eagles. Down by eight at the end of the third period, the Sharks produced a 13-2 run at the top of the final stanza to swing the momentum their way despite the earlier disqualification of Jalen DeLoach. Rodney Chatman III (17), Nick Kern Jr (24) and MVP Dirk Williams (26) were the key men as the Sharks held their nerve down the stretch for a stunning 95-99 road victory. Atiba Lyons’ men return to the Canon Medical Arena on Sunday when Manchester Basketball are the visitors.
Starting Fives
Eagles: Taylor, Hammond, Jack, Long, Okafor.
Sharks: Williams, Glasgow, Chatman, Ratinho, DeLoach.
Key Moments
The tone for a high-scoring encounter was established early on. Dirk Williams levelled matters at 10-10 after only three minutes of action and it remained tight as the same player gave the Sharks a 15-18 advantage moments later. Sauveur Kande hit the triple that gave the Eagles a 20-18 lead and left it late in the quarter to repeat the feat at 27-23. A Cole Long trey inside the final minute left the Geordies in front with the score at 30-25 by the quarter end.
The Sharks weren’t quite at the races defensively in the first half as Newcastle went on to establish a seven point gap. A corner triple from Long was followed by deep three from Deion Hammond as daylight opened up at 42-34 on Gus Okafor’s two point jump shot. The Sharks better moments towards half time came from Nick Kern Jr. He made a one-handed finish for a successful and-one play and found success from the line as the half closed at 50-43. More pertinent however was the technical foul picked up by Jalen DeLoach just before the break.
Newcastle continued to have the upper hand in the third period. Okafor claimed his own rebound and laid-in at 54-45 before DeLoach was called for an unsportsmanlike foul and disqualified from the game. With this hammer blow, Ray’sean Taylor’s trey at 58-45 gave the Eagles their biggest lead of the game and had the Sharks calling for time. Even as late as the final two minutes, Newcastle still had a ten point advantage but it was a Dirk Williams corner three to close the quarter that kick-started the Sharks with the score at 74-66.
Newcastle’s game unravelled following technical calls on Coach Marc Steutel and guard Mitch Clarke as a long Nick Kern corner basket ended a 2-13 run and tied up the game at 76-76. The Sharks were deadly from the free throw line and with the Eagles entering the penalty with six minutes to play, Mike Ochereobia even had the luxury of missing the Sharks first attempts from the charity stripe. The Sharks however turned the screw and a series of transition plays which included six points from Kern and Williams apiece saw the visitors sense an opportunity at 83-90. Credit to Newcastle, who hit back with big shots from Okafor, Clarke, Hammond and the relatively-quiet Maceo Jack but it was left to the dead-eye Rodney Chatman to close the game out from the lien with the score at 95-99.
MVP
The now-familiar Sharks eight man rotation took their time to get going but gained momentum at exactly the right moment to claim a memorable win. There was a captain’s innings for Rodney Glasgow Jr, who hit some key shots for his 11 points. The Sharks won the battle of the boards by 22-44 and that was in no small part due to the 16 rebounds claimed by William Lee. Rodney Chatman III turned facilitator as well as scorer with a phenomenal double-double. His 17 points included a perfect 8 from 8 at the line and an eye-popping 14 assists in an outstanding display. Nick Kern’s 24 points pushed all the way for the MVP honours and also came with an impressive 8 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 blocks. Dirk Williams was the actual MVP however. Six successful makes from deep contributed to a haul of 26 points to go with 7 rebounds, 3 assists and a blocked shot and yet another notch in the win column for Atiba Lyons’ men.
Next Game
B. Braun Sheffield Sharks v Manchester Basketball, Sunday 16th November 2025, Canon Medical Arena, 4.00pm Tip Off.
Image
Adam Bates
