Newcastle Eagles face Surrey 89ers tonight on a mission to square this season’s league series and keep alive hopes of a top four finish.
Head coach Marc Steutel celebrated his 100th top-flight game in charge of the men in black on Friday by steering his side to a much-needed 89-80 win against Manchester.
That victory moved Newcastle to a 12-16 Championship record with four regular season fixtures remaining.
And fourth-placed Manchester are just four points ahead of the Eagles having played one game more.
“It’s been a long season but we don’t want it to end,” said Steutel. “We’ve got four league games left and we’re going to try to do all that we can to be at our best in those games.
“We’re excited that we’ve got postseason basketball to look forward to but that’s for the future.
“We’ve got Surrey in front of us and although we beat them first time out they’ve been successful in the last two games.
“It’s important that we square the series against a very talented team.”
Surrey sit seventh in the Championship standings and still have an outside chance of finishing fourth.
Star men Cameron Gooden and Jalen Ray combined for 34 points and 10 assists as the 89ers lost narrowly to title challengers Leicester Riders on Thursday.
And Steutel is in no doubt that Newcastle will need to be at their very best to bag back-to-back wins this weekend.
“The guard play with Gooden and Ray is tough to scout for and Mervyn James is scoring the ball at a high level right now,” he added.
“Dame Adelekun had a double double against Leicester and he’s a really difficult customer with his ability to finish, pass and rebound. He’s also an underrated defender in my opinion.
“You talk about those guys and it’s clear that we’ll need to take some form and consistency from Friday’s fourth quarter into the Surrey game.”
Newcastle had it all to do against Manchester after Herman Mandole’s men had thumped the Eagles by 31 points at the Vertu Motors Arena earlier this month.
And the visitors had the edge going into the half with Steutel’s seven-player rotation just about sticking around at the break.
But a superb 50-35 second half — featuring a dominant fourth quarter — was enough to turn the tables on Manchester and ensure the race for fourth remains wide open.
“I thought Friday was a really, really important team win,” added Steutel. “The energy and the belief that the guys played with — after what’s been a really, really difficult period for us both schedule and health-wise — was incredible.
“But I know my group inside and out and I know that they’ll continue to fight and continue to battle.
“Josh Ward-Hibbert set the tone with the amount of winning plays that he makes: some show up on the stat sheet and some don’t.
“And obviously Darius Dafoe was immense. The way that he led the team was incredible — he was plus 23 on the box score in 23 minutes and made a huge difference.
“Everybody else played with the same level of intent as Josh and Darius down the stretch and it showed.
“The guys are still feeling physically drained but they left everything out there on the floor. That effort is what we need at this stage of the season.”
Steutel revealed that sidelined Seneca Knight is still being assessed by the club’s medical team with no return date set for the popular American.
Tonight’s game at the Surrey Sports Park tips off at 6pm with the action free to view via the DAZN app.
Newcastle are back in action at the Vertu Motors Arena on Monday ahead of a showdown with Bristol Flyers (4.30pm start) with tickets available from the box office.
