Cole Long insists Newcastle are in it to win it at Manchester tomorrow after the classy Canadian paved the way for a famous playoff win.

The Eagles forward returned to Marc Steutel’s starting five in some style after a badly gashed lip at the hands of Leicester Riders ended his regular season early.

Long lit up a lively quarter-final as the locked in hosts opened up a seven-point first leg advantage.

And the Super League Basketball rookie said: “It’s important to get ahead at the halfway stage. Playing away is a different environment altogether.

“But we’re going to Manchester to win. Every possession matters and that’s our mindset. We won’t be thinking about the aggregate score — if we win the game we win the tie.”

Newcastle overturned a 10-point first quarter deficit to clinch a 78-71 victory against a Manchester side that triumphed by 31 points in the first of two meetings between the teams last month.

And Long was central to a superb performance as he stacked the stat sheet with 13 points, five boards, five blocks, four assists and two steals.

“By the final buzzer we were playing together, the ball was moving and everyone was on the same page,” he added.

“It was important for us to work hard, come out with intent on defence and try to take away from what Manchester like to do.

“I’m happy I was able to get going in the first half. That solid start led to the second half where we pulled away a little bit.”

Steutel touted Long’s versatility from day one after snapping up the all-rounder last summer.

And a magnificent display against Manchester at both ends of the court delighted a coach who preaches a defence-first, fast-break philosophy.

“Cole’s the best defender on contests in the league,” added Steutel. “That’s a skill in itself that doesn’t make highlight tapes.

“But we’ve spoken about that within our group this year and it’s a real asset to this team.

“I think Cole was averaging 0.9 blocks on the season heading into the playoffs. That’s a bit unfair because I know what he does defensively.

“To be able to play the way he did against Manchester and get five blocks after busting his lip the week before was incredible. I was really pleased for him.”

Manchester started the stronger of the two teams on their way to establishing a six-point first period lead.

And with 13 minutes on the clock, Herman Mandole’s men had opened up a double-digit advantage.

Mike Okauru and the returning Seneca Knight sparked a late first half rally to reduce the deficit to just four points at the break.

But nobody could have predicted the thrilling third quarter display that turned a fascinating tie in the home team’s favour.

Steutel’s men restricted Manchester to just 11 points in the period — an Okauru fast-break and cool finish levelling the quarter-final at 46-46 with less than 15 minutes on the clock.

From there Newcastle snatched the lead and seized control with Trey Pulliam, in particular, turning on the style with a series of highlight plays down the stretch.

“I was really proud of our second half performance on Friday,” added Steutel. “We’d spoken about how this Manchester team starts really well. They’re really physical.

“They’re really disruptive. You’ve got to weather the storm at the start. And we’ve shown that if you can do that and you stay consistent then you’re going to get enough opportunities.

“I loved our versatility and I loved our connectivity in that first leg.

“I thought Darius Defoe was exceptional in the third quarter — in the last three minutes of that period I thought he was awesome.

“He was probably a little bit hard done to not seeing the floor again in the fourth.”

Resting Defoe down the stretch means British basketball’s most decorated player will, at least, be fresh for round two in Manchester.

But it looks unlikely that De’Sean Allen-Eikens will be back in time to taste quarter-final action.

Knight’s long-awaited return was tempered by the absence of Newcastle’s maverick rookie and Steutel added: “De’Sean is pleading with his teammates, as I am, to get the right outcome on Monday.

“That gives him another week and we can assess it day by day. It’s really unlikely he’s going to be available for Monday, which is a shame.”