Caledonia Gladiators 98-80 Newcastle Eagles: Green reveals key attribute which led to dominant win over rivals

Caledonia Gladiators responded to defeat on Friday with a dominant 98-80 win over rivals Newcastle Eagles in the British Basketball League (BBL).

Caledonia Gladiators enjoyed a big win over rivals Newcastle Eagles at the PlaySport Arena on Sunday. Cr. Ross Wardrop.

Caledonia Gladiators guard Quade Green hailed the attitude of his team mates after they bounced back from Friday's defeat to the London Lions by defeating rivals Newcastle Eagles 98-80 at the PlaySport Arena on Sunday.

Green put on an eye-catching performance with a 33-point haul against the Eagles that also included eight assists and two rebounds as the Gladiators gave an impressive response their late defeat to league leaders London Lions just 48 hours earlier.

"It is always a plus if you can beat a team like the London Lions, they're one of the top teams here so obviously everyone wants to take their heads off - obviously we didn't manage to that (on Friday) but we came out fighting. Those little mini-mistakes we had on Friday, we didn't make them today so you can see that result today. Everything is just little pieces we need to do and today we just did it," explained the Philadelphia native.

"We know what type of team they are with three All Star guards and we know what they are capable of doing. I was just taking what the defence gave me today, if I had a shot - take it, if I didn't have a shot - pass it. My team mates were a big key of it, they did their role today, I just fed them the ball. I did half the work - they really did all the work.

"We have three away games coming up so we had to at least make the fans happy today (after losing on Friday) then next month we come back and do the same" added Green.

The 25-year-old American only joined one month ago but has made a massive impact on the offence already, scoring an average of 24.8 points per game and making an average of 5.2 assists per game. However, the humble point guard laid praise at the door of his team mates once again when asked why he has settled in the BBL so seamlessly.

"My team mates have brought me here with open arms, treat me like a brother and like I've been here the whole season. They've treated me like I'm a brother since I first got here. The fans bring all the energy for us, the fans do their job and we just doing our job too. We feed off the fans, they brought energy today and put that energy boost in us and you can see that result today" said the guard.

Assistant coach Dan Petts also lavished praise on the impact Green has had and expects the player to only get better as he adapts to the British game.

"He's been really team centred in every conversation we've had with him. We play defence as a team, offence as a team. In practice, he's very competitive and he always wants to win and help his team - it translates really well," said Petts.

"He is still learning this style of basketball. He's never played in Europe before so now he is transitioning and learning. As you can see, he has a lot offensive talent, now he is improving his decision making to make the right pass at the right time and to play defence how we want".