BBL: Top four stretch lead

,All four sides at the top of the BBL Championship claimed victories on Saturday night to stretch the gap on their other league rivals.

Leaders Newcastle Eagles claimed a 97-82 victory over Durham Wildcats, while second placed Worcester Wolves edged a tense encounter with Glasgow Rocks 64-61.

Leicester Riders, who sit number three in the league, beat Guildford Heat 106-80 and Plymouth Raiders consolidated fourth spot with a 94-82 win over Sheffield.

A tight opening period in Newcastle saw BBL basement team Durham lead their north eastern rivals 25-24 at the end of the first quarter.

But the Eagles put their foot on the gas in the middle two quarters, outscoring the Wildcats 57-38 to take control of the game and condemn the league new-boys to their seventh straight defeat.

Joe Chapman led the Eagles' scorers with 24 while Paul Gause scored 22 points, missing just one shot.

Tight contest

For the Wildcats, Mario Flaherty scored 24 and pulled down 11 rebounds. Mike Capocci also earned a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds.

Worcester prevailed 64-61 over Glasgow Rocks thanks to David Watts sinking a three pointer right at the end of an extremely tight contest.

Wolves started well and led 18-13 after the first quarter with 12 of their points coming from outside the arc.

But Glasgow came back in the second sinking seven points to take the lead for the first time before the home side hit back through Richie Gordon to tie things up.

The teams continued to trade baskets with the Rocks mostly maintaining a narrow advantage, leading 37-32 at the half way mark and by just 61-60 inside the final minute.

Watts' score in the dying seconds made it 63-61 and a Tommy Freeman free throw a moment later handed the Wolves their sixth straight win.

Bounced back

Leicester Riders bounced back from Friday's defeat at Newcastle Eagles to complete a comfortable 106-80 victory over Guildford Heat.

The Riders were in control for much of the match, with Bradd Wierzbicki leading all scorers and narrowly missing out on a double-double with 24 points and nine assists.

Team-mate Cameron Rundles picked up 23 points and 11 rebounds, while Guildford's scorers were led by Martelle McLemore who managed 19 points and 14 rebounds.

On the south coast Plymouth Raiders made it 14 wins from 19 games with their 94-82 win over One Health Sharks Sheffield.

Jeremy Bell picked up 24 points for the Raiders while Paul Williams and Anthony Rowe both picked up double-doubles as the Raiders pulled down 48 rebounds to the 29 by Sharks, whose scorers were led by Ryan Patton's 23 points.