The Newcastle Eagles finally “got the monkey off their back” according to Aussie Point Guard Mitch Clarke as they celebrated a first win in nine games at The Vertu Arena on Friday night. Their 92 – 89 victory over Surrey 89ers was not pretty and they had to dig really tough but they did hold on to win.

That they did was testament to a group of players that responded to Head Coach Marc Steutel’s promptings and play-calls to give themselves just enough of a lead down the stretch to hold off a ferocious Surrey side that would not lie down easily.

Steutel had Manny Kanwei back in his rotation after the big centre missed the previous home defeat against Sheffield. Kanwei going straight into a starting five alongside Maceo Jack, Ray’Sean Taylor, Gus Okafor and Deion Hammond. Right now, that looks like the Eagles strongest group of starters.

However, it was the 89ers who made the better start to the game zipping into a 6 – 0 lead from the opening tip-off. Newcastle fans feared the worst. But Taylor put the Eagles on the board and they gradually chipped away until Okafor’s 2 from 2 from the charity stripe gave them a lead at 11 – 10.

Surrey levelled the contest but that and their 6 – 0 start was the best it got for the visitors. Despite never being out of the game they trailed from the sixth minute of the contest when Cole Long slam-dunked home to give his side a two-point advantage at 15 – 13.

It sparked a 14 points to 3 run for Newcastle to enable them to establish a double-digit lead at 27 – 15 by the end of the first period. That’s when Surrey showed their resilience. Both sides scored free and easily in the second quarter but the 89ers were the more dominant force.

Hammond, Okafor and Taylor in particular just about kept Newcastle in front but the 2024/25 SLB Young Player of the Year Nedas Cholevinskas came off the bench for Surrey to great effect and helped his side to get back to within two points at times in the quarter.

But two late first half baskets from Clarke and Jack for the men in black meant that they withstood that first Surrey onslaught and took a 55 – 48 lead into the locker rooms after a breathless first half and in particular a high-scoring second period.

The third belonged to Newcastle and in particular Hammond who found his range from deep and looked like he was not going to miss. In all he made six of nine triples on the night as he led the Eagles in scoring with 20 points.

Three of them coming in a crucial third period when the home side made their most telling run and the one that gave them the platform to go on and take the win. Steutel rotated and his players kept answering the call.

When Hammond hit his third triple of the period and Clarke followed up with another the Eagles suddenly had a stranglehold on the game and had pushed their lead to 17-points at 79 – 62. Ronald Polite netted a deuce to finish the quarter but Newcastle led by 15 going into the last ten minutes.

Did nerves get to Steutel’s charges? Was the weight and importance of the moment almost too great? Or was it that Newcastle unaccustomed to winning out just dropped off their intensity a fraction? What ever the questions the Eagles did manage, just, to find the answers.

A determined Surrey comeback and the free-scoring Hammond on the bench with foul trouble combined to give the 89ers a glimmer of hope. A massive 21 points to 6 run bringing them right back into the contest late on and cutting the gap to a mere two points again.

But a superb defensive stand by veteran Captain Darius Defoe on Surrey big man Isiah Small and a Jack triple inside the last 90 seconds pushed Newcastle back up to a five-point lead and they held on for their third SLB Championship win of the season.