Sharks looking to shine in Newcastle on Friday

British Basketball League Regular Season

It might be All-Star weekend but the B. Braun Sheffield Sharks will be looking to shine on Friday night when they head to the North East to take on Newcastle Eagles. After a low-key start to the season, the Eagles have ramped things up in climbing to fourth in the regular season standings. The Sharks will be looking to build on a hard-fought win over Surrey last week. Friday’s game is followed by a rematch with the Eagles eleven days later so these two sides will be getting familiar with each other over the next couple of weeks.

Friday – Eagles v Sharks – Vertu Motors Arena – 7.30pm

No live stream for this game

Ones To Watch

Jordan Johnson – Formidable component of the Newcastle backcourt, who came up with 25 points, 2 rebounds and 5 assists against Caledonia last weekend. Averages 17.7 points and 5.8 assists for the season but couldn’t steer his Eagles side to the win in Scotland unfortunately.

Rickey McGill – Another terrific facilitator and scorer, who matched his season average of 6 assists against the Gladiators but couldn’t stop Caledonia taking a 98-80 victory. Averages 18.1 points per game and was just a little bit below par with 13 last Sunday.

Malcolm Delpeche – Shot 5 of 7 last weekend against the Scots to finish with an 11 point, 4 rebound haul. Has had some big games against the Sharks in the past and his match-up against Bennett Koch and brother Marcus is something to keep an eye on.

Tahj Green – There’s never a dull moment when the athletic Green is on court and he is equally happy living life above the rim as well as shooting the three ball. His 7 boards against Caledonia were comparable with his season average of 7.7 and he also adds 13.3 points to boot.

Last Meeting

October 8th 2023 – B. Braun Sheffield Sharks (Nichols 14 Koch / Ramsey / Eytle-Rock 13) 86 Newcastle Eagles (Austin Jr 14 Defoe 12 Green 9) 56

Shark Bites

The Sharks and the Eagles go into their upcoming back to back games with both teams having one win apiece but with the Sharks holding a basket difference advantage of 158-135.

In each of the last 5 seasons, the Sharks have won the regular season head to head against the Eagles. Since the start of the 2018-19 season when the Eagles moved into their arena, the clubs have met in 28 games in all competitions. The Sharks record in that time is 19 wins, 1 draw and 8 losses.

Marcus Delpeche is due to play his 100th game for the Sharks at Newcastle on Friday. He will become the 15th player to reach 3 figures in appearances under Coach Lyons.

In 28 completed regular seasons, the Sharks lowest ever number of away wins is 4. This season with 3 games to go, they have just 3 away wins.

SharkNation

Our very own Jalon Pipkins and the All-Stars of the north do battle against their southern counterparts at the Copperbox on Sunday but first up, the Sharks will have their focus on a pair of games against Newcastle Eagles. Friday we’re up in the North East for a 7.30pm tip off and then on Sunday 24th March, the Eagles visit the Canon Medical Arena. Head to Fanbase | Schedule (fanbaseclub.com) to secure your tickets for that one, which is also another of our famous double-headers with the B. Braun Sheffield Hatters WBBL side. We’re in the hunt for that all-important playoff place and we need our loyal bunch of fans to do it. The Sharks, the playoffs and you – together we are UNBEATABLE! #FearTheFin

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Adam Bates