After last weekend’s fantastic two-legged Super League Basketball Trophy semi-final success against Cheshire Phoenix it’s back to SLB Championship action for the Newcastle Eagles on Friday night at home in the Vertu Arena.

The visitors for another crucial championship game are the league leading London Lions. Head Coach Marc Steutel is hoping his side continue their good recent domestic form against a very tough opponent and is looking forward to the match-up.

He spoke about his pride in his team after the win over Cheshire whilst being aware of what lies ahead for his side.

“I’m really proud that we were clearly the better team over 80 minutes against Cheshire. Exceptionally proud of the team. They showed tremendous grit, determination and a will to win with such force and resilience.”

“All of the attributes that are important to be a Newcastle Eagles basketball player. Attributes that the City deserves and what these players want to embody were there in abundance. But now it’s about switching focus to London.”

“We’re excited to be playing the top team in the competition. These are the moments that you compete for. We understand the level and resource that London are operating with. But we’ve played really good basketball of late and we feel like we’re going into the game with confidence.”

Ironically, it will be Lions that Steutel will take his Trophy Final bound side into battle against next month at Birmingham. The two sides also meet up again later this month in the SLB Cup also at the Vertu Arena. So, it’s fair to say the two sides will know each other very well very soon.

Steutel is well aware of how strong the Lions are and what their attributes bring to the court and knows what his side have to do to as they prepare for the challenge.

“We got some really good performances under our belt as such in recent games. They are a talented side. They have a defensive identity and are really physical disruptive team. We are excited for the game and have to make sure we take the physical challenge to them.”

“We have to make sure that we do the things we’ve done consistently to be successful. The Trophy Final is three weeks away and there’s a lot of basketball games for us and for them between now and then.”

“We want to try and play better basketball always. We want to get better with each game and the group have bought into that and are excited to play against London and test their progress as a team and go from there.”

This will be the third time that Newcastle and London have met in the Championship this season. London winning both previous encounters. Back on October 10 London came to the Vertu Arena and left with a narrow 82-77 victory following it up more comfortably on November 25 at home 95-82.

Steutel know his team have to step-up against a powerful side that are virtually everyone’s favourites to take a lot of silverware this season. Not quite a dress rehearsal for the Trophy Final but a significant game nevertheless and one that could give both side’s vital clues about each other.

The action as ever in the Vertu Arena on Friday night will tip-off at 7:30pm for a much-anticipated clash.