The Newcastle Eagles came up just short of making it three wins from three in the SLB Championship on Sunday after going down to their first League defeat in Sheffield.

It was a game that won’t live long in the mind of basketball purists but it was intense throughout and as hard-fought as they come. Two highly committed tough teams slugging it out giving each other as good as they other and reflecting the mental toughness that is required to play at this level.

Sheffield will take a deep breath and thank their lucky stars that Rodney Chatman III got hot down the stretch when at times there appeared to be a lid on both baskets. He, in the end, was the difference maker for the home side who drew level with their visitors in the standings at 2 wins and 1 loss.

It is of course very early going in the SLB Championship and like the start of many a top-flight basketball season almost impossible to predict which way games are going to go. Sides are new, players are adjusting to each other and trying to come to terms with their Coaches’ styles.

Both teams came into the game on the back of big wins on Friday. Sharks having blown Leicester away on the road 93 – 65 and The Eagles having a convincing 88 – 70 home win over Cheshire. Somehow it all pointed to a close encounter being played out and so it proved.

For Newcastle although ultimately a mark in the loss column is the most important statistic. The statistics that can be debated all day is only shooting 4 of 20 from beyond the 3-point arc or missing 9 free-throws. But that can happen in any game and it’s how you bounce back that will be the measure.

Eagles went into the game once again without Darius Defoe but were also shorn of current captain Josh Ward-Hibbert who had limped out of Friday’s win over Cheshire early and not recovered in time to face Sheffield. His side did miss the GB International’s defensive presence and motivation.

That said you have to adopt a ‘next-man-up’ mentality and against a full Sharks roster that many are tipping for honours that’s exactly what Newcastle did. This group of players that Marc Steutel has put together sure has grit and a never-say-die attitude but sometimes even that isn’t enough.

Perhaps given all the circumstances there are positives to take. Even without Ward-Hibbert their defensive application was good. What possibly cost them the game was their overall poor shooting night and foul trouble that meant Steutel was having to rotate at times when perhaps he didn’t want too.

The Eagles started well and were five points up early. Maceo Jack already in the groove with Marco Anthony in support and captain for the night Cole Long with Ray’Sean Taylor also adding valuable contributions but Sheffield hit back strongly and turned the game around.

Twice in the first period they led by ten points only for Newcastle to pull within five points at 24 to 19 down going into the second ten-minute stretch. The Eagles really locked down Sheffield in that second period only allowing 9 points as they took the lead by netting 16 points of their own.

It meant a two-point lead for Steutel’s charges at 35 to 33 as they went to the locker rooms at half-time. It hadn’t been a classic first twenty minutes but there was no doubting the effort from both sides as they stood toe-to-toe.

The second twenty minutes wasn’t for the faint-hearted as the lead swung one-way then the other although it was the home side who had the better of the third period taking it 21 to 16 to give them a 3-point lead to take into the final quarter   .

As it had been for the previous 30 minutes there was very little between the two sides. Jack trying to forge Newcastle ahead but Chatman III nailing three triples in the period to help steady the ship on the home front.

With 2:32 to play Long’s second triple and only fourth of the game for his side levelled the contest at 71 points apiece. But Chatman III hit back with one of his own and three quickish free-throws suddenly had Sheffield six points ahead inside the last minute.

Eagles rallied for one last effort but in the end the Sharks held firm to take a W that they perhaps just about deserved although it was a great effort from a short-handed Eagles roster that just couldn’t nail a decisive run at the right time.

Steutel and his players will be disappointed at the outcome and when analysing the game pick-up on points where they could have done better. But the end analysis is that when two teams go to war like this they can both take positives as they look to develop identity and DNA for the long season ahead.