BBL Trophy

The BBL Trophy is one of three cup competitions operated by the British Basketball League. The competition begins with a regional group format and comprises the 13 BBL clubs divided into three regional qualifying groups of three and one group of four.

For the 2006–07 season special invitees from the EBL Division 1 took part, including the Coventry Crusaders along with the London Leopards, Reading Rockets and Worthing Thunder. The BBL also welcomed the top two teams from the Scottish Basketball League, the Troon Tornadoes and Edinburgh Kings to total the amount of teams competing to 16. The teams were split into four groups and played each of their group rivals once. The team that finished top of each group after that round of games progressed to the semi-finals, which adopted a knockout format.

The BBL Trophy was a part of the Newcastle Eagles' clean-sweep last season as they defeated the Leicester Riders 71-50 with an uncompromising defensive performance at the SkyDome Arena, in Coventry. Andrew Sullivan was the star with 18 points and 11 rebounds to earn himself the MVP award.

Yet the Eagles could not retain the Trophy in the 2007 Final, despite having home court advantage. Plymouth Raiders claimed their first top-flight silverware with a 74–65 win over Newcastle at the Metro Radio Arena, on 4 March. A superb performance from Raiders' centre Carlton Aaron earned him the MVP award after scoring a game-high 25 points, as well as grabbing 12 rebounds. The Final was attended by a crowd of over 5,000, [cite web| author = Simon Rushworth | title = Plymouth dazzle to make strong case for future of local prospects | url = http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/more_sport/article1470058.ece | year = 2007 | accessdate = 2007-03-05 | publisher = The Times | date = 2007 ] and was also the first BBL game broadcast live on MKTV, as part of a £2.5 million sponsorship deal agreed in 2006.

The current BBL Trophy holders are the Guildford Heat after they defeated the Newcastle Eagles 86–79, on 2 March 2008.

ee also

*Basketball in England
*British Basketball League
*BBL Finals Weekend
*BBL Cup
*BBL Cup Winners' Cup

Notes