Manchester Basketball and Newcastle Eagles turned up the heat on second-placed B.Braun Sheffield Hatters in the SLB Championship standings.

League-leading Oaklands Wolves enjoyed a weekend off as they prepare to host Nottingham Wildcats next weekend as the race for the title heats up.

Durham Palatinates 71-90 Manchester Basketball

Manchester Basketball started slow but finished strong, as they defeated Durham Palatinates 90-71 on the road to move level on points with B.Braun Sheffield Hatters in second.

Anastasia Warren paced Manchester with 25 points and nine assists, going 10/13 from the floor with Danni Williams scoring 18 points and pulling 17 rebounds in another stat-stuffing display.

However, the visitors had to shake off a poor start, with Durham ending the first quarter on a 13-2 run to take a 28-16 lead.

Manchester regrouped immediately, responding with a 9-0 burst to start the second. Thanks to a triple from Williams, they ended the half 42-39 ahead.

The Palatinates kept it interesting in the third until a fourth-quarter raid from Manchester swung the pendulum in their favour with Warren scoring 10 points in that spell as part of a 31-13 final period.

Shanique Lucas shot 81% from the field for a game-high 29 for Durham.

MVP: Danni Williams (Manchester Basketball)

Newcastle Eagles 103-56 Cardiff Met Archers

Newcastle Eagles also moved level on points with Manchester and Hatters following a comfortable 103-56 victory over Cardiff Met Archers at Vertu Motors Arena.

It might have been routine for Newcastle in the end, but Cardiff began brightly, even taking a 21-19 lead after one before trailing 41-34 at the break.

Then, the Eagles flexed their muscles. They held the Archers to just 10 points in the third and outscored their Welsh counterparts 62-22 in the second half to secure the win.

Lyric Swann shot 70% from the field for 20 points with Jada Guinn adding 17 and Abby Lowe amassing 16 for Newcastle.

Kiara Stewart led Cardiff with 19 points.

MVP: Lyric Swann (Newcastle Eagles)

Leicester Riders 64-84 Caledonia Gladiators

Caledonia Gladiators stayed in the hunt for a top-four place by beating Leicester Riders 84-64 at Loughborough University.

The Gladiators out-scored the Riders 12-6 on second chance points, pipping them to the rebounding duel 45-33.

But another telling statistic was the visitors scoring 14 points off 20 Leicester turnovers, while the hosts could only muster two points off 14 Caledonia takeaways.

Delaynie Bryne was phenomenal, exploding for 27 points and 18 rebounds, seven of those being offensive boards. Kirsty Brown had 11 despite shooting just 4/12 from the field.

A short-handed Leicester side were led by Kaia Harrison’s 19 points in a game where one of their leading threats, Katie Januszewska was held to just two points on 1/9 shooting.

MVP: Delaynie Bryne (Caledonia Gladiators)

London Lions 74-83 Essex Rebels

Essex Rebels beat basement side London Lions 83-74 at Barking Abbey to maintain their Play-Off push. However they were made to work hard for their victory.

With Essex up 52-37 at half-time and in cruise control, London came out in the third period firing on all cylinders, taking the game to the Rebels and a basket Elizabeth Esan reduced the deficit to just five points heading into the final ten minutes.

Despite their best efforts though, London were unable to build on their strong third quarter showing, as the Rebels kept them at bay throughout the fourth to take a win back to Colchester.

Taylor O’Brien led Essex with 23 points. Macy Spinks paced London with 17.

MVP: Taylor O’Brien (Essex Rebels)