The Jekyll and Hyde Newcastle Eagles crashed to a disappointing defeat down in Guildford, Surrey on Sunday afternoon to move to 5 wins 4 losses in the SLB Championship. After the great work they did at home to defeat high-flying Leicester this was not the follow-up they were hoping for.

It seems at times that just when they look as if they’ve turned a corner something happens to knock them back around and they once again will have to re-assess and re-group to go again. The absence of De’sean Allen-Eikens in Head Coach Marc Steutel’s rotation a big factor for the Eagles roster.

Also, inconsistency which must frustrate Steutel also playing a part. There is an expression ‘win as a team and lose as a team’ so no-one individual can be held responsible for the latest loss. However, Seneca Knight was the MVP with 21 points against Leicester but was held scoreless by Surrey.

Will Neighbour still on his way back  from a long injury managed to play 11 minutes but was also held scoreless whilst Malcolm Delpeche only managed a single bucket late on in 17 minutes of play. But they alone were not the only reasons. In truth Newcastle’s defence was not solid enough at any stage.

At times Surrey seemed to find a route to the basket for easy points or grab an offensive rebound or a steal from a turnover to give them second chance opportunities as they took advantage of a weary looking Eagles outfit that face a long journey home to contemplate their afternoon woes.

Newcastle though did start brightly. Cole Long hitting two triples and Josh Ward-Hibbert another as they flew into a 9 – 0 lead. Surrey though remained calm and came back with a 15 – 3 run that gave them their first lead of the game and they were never behind again.

Eagles did level the first period at 18-points all but an 8 – 1 Surrey run to end the first ten minutes saw the home side establish their first significant gap at 26 – 19 as the second quarter began. It was then that Surrey turned their first screw.

Establishing themselves in that second period they had their lead up to 12 points at one stage before Christian James who had 14 first half points to just about keep his side in the game scored 5 of those points to end the half with Newcastle trailing 46 points to 38.

Steutel no doubt would have emphasised and hoped for a strong start to the second half and Ward-Hibbert did cut the gap to six at the beginning of the third. But Surrey runs of 8 points to 1 and then 9 unanswered saw them surge ahead to take a massive seventeen point advantage into the final period.

There was no let-up either for the home side. James was shut down in the second 20 minutes, the free scoring Okauru only really found joy at the free throw line and Ward-Hibbert did his best to help stem the flow. But a more involved contributing deeper home roster always looked comfortable.

Indeed, Surrey actually threatened to record the biggest win in the SLB Championship when they peaked their lead at thirty points but Newcastle at least had the scant consolation of preventing that with the last four points of the contest.

There’s little respite for Steutel and his players as they have to shake this result off and be ready to play a European North Basketball League game on Tuesday night at home against BK Opava from Czechia looking to get a win and qualify for the quarter-final of the prestigious European competition.

Tickets for the Tuesday night tip-off are available from the box office.