EAGLES TIP-OFF FIRST PRE-SEASON IN NEW HOME

By DAN BLACK
on August 19, 2019

As the 2019-20 Newcastle Eagles BBL team signing announcements continue to roll-out ahead of our first full season in the Eagles Community Arena, we are excited to reveal the first pre-season games to be hosted in our new venue.

Three games will give you the chance to see our new squad in action before the new-format BBL season begins with the Cup Group Stage at home at the end of September.

On Tuesday 3 September we open the campaign warm-up as USA Select return to the UK for a weeknight exhibition before Friday night basketball is back with Worcester and Sheffield visiting Tyneside over the two weeks leading up to the season opener on September 20 against Cheshire Phoenix.

HOME – Tue 3 Sep 19:30 – Newcastle Eagles – VS -USA Select – Eagles Community Arena Pre-Season – GET TICKETS
HOME – Fri 6 Sep 19:30 – Newcastle Eagles – VS -Worcester Wolves – Eagles Community Arena Pre-Season – GET TICKETS
HOME – Fri 13 Sep 19:30 – Newcastle Eagles – VS -Sheffield Sharks – Eagles Community Arena Pre-Season – GET TICKETS
AWAY – Sun 15 Sep 16:00 – Sheffield Sharks – VS -Newcastle Eagles – EIS Sheffield Pre-Season

Tickets are on sale now from the all-new Newcastle Eagles Box Office for just £8 per person (reduced to £7 for our BBL season ticket holders when you login).

[MORE]

USA Select Tickets Now On Sale!

By Liam Brown
on August 14, 2019

Manchester Giants will take on USA Select in the traditional pre-season curtain raiser on 5th September 2019.

The match will take place at Platt Lane Complex, Yew Tree Rd, Manchester M14 7UU, with a 7pm tip off.

Due to the decreased capacity at Platt Lane, tickets are expected to sell out very quickly, with tickets available to purchase on the viewing balcony. Season ticket holders get this game included on their season ticket, and simply have to show up with their season ticket confirmation to be checked against our records.

It represents Giants’ fans first opportunity to get see Danny Byrne’s new look side in action, with new boys Tiel Daniels, Del’vin Dickerson, Edu Arqués, Phil Kelly-Brandreth and Jon Mulmore joining the returning cast of Ingus Bankevics, James Jones and Callum Jones.

We will be trialling a new bar code ticket system for this game, allowing fans to print tickets at home or bring on a mobile phone for scanning on entry. If you have any questions or concerns, please e-mail us at info@manchestergiants.com and we will be happy to answer them. If there are any issues with your tickets, you can be simply checked against our records in the old way.

BUY TICKETS NOW!

[MORE]

Kingston Panthers VS Usa Select

Whatever Happened To … former Valley Forge basketball standout Ryan Patton

By Tim Rogers / Plain Dealer Reporter
on January 14, 2011 12:32 PM, updated August 23, 2013 3:14 AM

Some guys will go to great lengths to extend their basketball playing days.

Former Valley Forge and Youngstown State star Ryan Patton went farther than most. He went all the way to England, with a brief stint in Qatar.

Patton, who led Forge to a Division I regional final in 1997 and scored more than 800 points in just two high school seasons, is in his sixth year as a European professional and his playing career is not much different than it was in the United States.

He still is a terrific shooter and scorer.

“I always thought he would end up playing professionally somewhere,” said John Stavole, who coached Patton for two seasons after he transferred from Holy Name to Valley Forge. “If ‘gym-rat’ was in the dictionary, his picture would be there. He just loved to play. He was the kind of kid you loved to coach.”

Patton, 31, earned All-Ohio honors as a senior at Valley Forge and became just the second player in YSU history to score 1,000 points and have 400 assists before graduating in 2002.

The 6-0 guard plays for the Sheffield Sharks, the defending champions of the British Basketball League. The season lasts from September to May and teams play about twice a week. The Sharks, 30-6 one year ago, are in the BBL Championship Finals, which begin next week. Patton is averaging 18 points a game and is in the league’s top five in assists, 3-point shooting percentage and free throw percentage.

“I would have considered playing anywhere in Europe,” Patton said in an e-mail. “England was the first country that I played in. I played a short time in Qatar, but it’s beneficial to be in a country without a language barrier and I felt at home in England.”

Each BBL squad is permitted to have just three Americans on its roster.

“That puts a little added pressure on me to keep performing well,” he said. “It’s good to have played at the college level in the States because it was a pressured environment. We get treated well here, your accommodations and car are paid for and the English fans and management are very supportive.”

Soccer remains king in England but Patton said basketball’s status is improving.

“Basketball is not one of the top sports in the country so we don’t pull in the same crowds,” he said. “Our games are showing now on Sky sports, which will improve the profile and popularity of basketball in the UK. The Cup Championships and the finals always draw big crowds and a great atmosphere.”

Patton still spends his summers in Ohio and has begun running basketball camps at local schools.

“I’ll play as long as my body allows me to,” he said.

Spoken like a true gym rat.

– Tim Rogers

[MORE]