Basketball: Hyatt helps Eagles close the gap on high-flying Jets

Newcastle Eagles, brimming with confidence after winning the BBL Trophy on Sunday, beat Chester Jets 99-90 at the Telewest Arena last night to close the gap on the BBL Championship leaders to four points.

Newcastle Eagles, brimming with confidence after winning the BBL Trophy on Sunday, beat Chester Jets 99-90 at the Telewest Arena last night to close the gap on the BBL Championship leaders to four points.

Jeremy Hyatt led Newcastle's scorers with 30 points, including five in the 7-0 run which opened a match-winning 90-77 lead. Andrew Sullivan finished with 19 while Shawn Myers top-scored for the Jets, who have two more wins than the Eagles.

Brighton Bears, who collapsed to a 25-point defeat in the Trophy Final against the Eagles, suffered another heavy loss as the Scottish Rocks hammered their injury-hit squad 87-67 in Glasgow. Steve Lepore hit 29 for the Bears.

Sheffield Sharks took a firmer grip on third place with a 78-66 win against Plymouth Raiders. Rob Yanders scored 24 points as they opened a six-point lead over fourth-placed Brighton.