Royals setting the early pace

Two weeks in and league newcomers London City Royals have settled in just fine with three victories to sit top of the BBL Championship.

Matthew Bryan-Amaning put up 29 points in Sunday's 86-92 road victory at Manchester Giants having secured a 91-85 triumph over Surrey Scorchers in their home opener less than 24 hours earlier.

"It was two big games for us," stated Bryan-Amaning. "Firstly, our first home game as a franchise was good.

"We had a great turnout considering we didn't know what to expect and trying to generate support.

"It's very young in the season so we are just trying to find our chemistry as none of us have played together.

"Surrey is close enough to call a rivalry as we know a lot of the players personally and knew we was going to get their best shot - their record doesn't reflect how they've been playing."

He added: "We were happy to get the win in front of home fans and start off strong in the league.

"The second of the two games we took very seriously as in their first game, Manchester proved they are not the team of recent years.

"We were able to take control early, but relinquished the lead in the third.

"I loved the way we battled back and got back into the game in the fourth and pull out a tough win on the road.

"These kinds of wins we've had are character-building wins for later in the season."

Meanwhile, Esh Group Eagles Newcastle kept their 100% record with an impressive 85-100 win away at Radisson RED Glasgow Rocks. Darius Defoe top scored with 25 points, while Rahmon Fletcher had 13 assists to go with 24 points alongside Victor Moses.

It was a mixed weekend for DBL Sharks Sheffield as they started with a 99-90 success against the winless Scorchers behind Rene Castro-Cannedy's 24 points before falling on the road to Bristol Flyers.

Jalan McCloud led the way with 21 points in the emphatic 92-60 success with Marcus Delpeche adding 15 points to go with 11 boards for a double-double as Bristol opened their win account.

On Friday, Ladarius Tabb fired in 30 points to lead London Lions to an 82-65 victory over Worcester Wolves to make it back-to-back home victories to start the season.

Cheshire Phoenix rounded out the weekend with their second win as they handed Plymouth Raiders a 94-88 defeat, despite 33 points from Donte Nicholas.