BBL: London Lions clip Newcastle Eagles wings in overtime

Sam Dekker returned to the side, after Friday’s 99-80 win over Cheshire Phoenix, but Tajh Green scored a trio of three-pointers in the opening eight minutes in an explosive Eagles start.

Jordan Johnson also drained a hopeful three and drew a foul, but failed to punish London with the four-point play.

And the amazing shooting display continued in the second quarter, as former Lion Josh Ward-Hibbert chipped in with a pair of threes, before the champions rose to the challenge.

Matt Morgan caught fire and sunk four three-pointers in just three minutes to inspire a great spell from the Lions.

Tarik Phillip also played a part in making up for the sluggish start as the first half ended level at 52-52.

The high-octane action continued in the third quarter as the teams exchanged leads, with Green finding his way to the basket in a multitude of ways for the Eagles as Donte Grantham added an interior threat for the Lions.

Temperatures began to rise too, with unsportsmanlike and technical fouls called on the Lions, and Newcastle took advantage as Devin Whitfield sank free throws to create a 10-point lead with 15 minutes left.

But Grantham scored two consecutive triples before steals from Larry Austin Jr and some relentless team rebounding helped Newcastle go 14 points up.

Morgan relit the Lions fire again down the stretch with his ninth three as sloppy defence and unnecessary fouls hurt the Eagles and saw the game tied.

And after missing a chance to take the lead from the stripe, Morgan sank an audacious trey to put his team in front late on.

Green fouled out in the final minute, but Grantham missed a turnaround jumper as it went to overtime and Lions lost 30-point player of the game Morgan as early disciplinary issues came back to bite him.

Free-throws became the deciding factor for most of the extra period, with both teams deep in foul trouble, and Mo Soluade and Phillip sunk a pair of daggers into a tired Newcastle team in the final minute as Lions moved to 8-0.

Lions return to EuroCup action with a trip to Prometey Slobozhanske on Wednesday, having beat Hamburg Towers 100-94 in Germany last week for a second successive win in this year’s competition.

The women beat Gdessa Barreiro 91-55 in their opener in Portugal and take on Castors Braine on Wednesday, then start their WBBL campaign at Essex Rebels on Saturday (4pm).