At was another disappointing for Head Coach Marc Steutel and his players in Latvia with a 96-88 loss against Rigas Zelli. A result that almost certainly ends the Eagles interest in this year’s ENBL competition.

The Eagles played well for long patches and actually led briefly in the final quarter. Then the fates seemed to conspire against them as Steutel reflected on the game and in particular those last ten minutes.

“My first thought was 37 points in the fourth quarter but 21 free-throws. No-one feels sorry for ourselves but I’m struggling with it. It’s been a consistent theme for us so maybe we have to look at it internally ourselves.”

“There was some defensive possessions that we don’t like for sure. We overhelped a couple of times and gave up rhythm threes which was challenging.”

“But you score 30 points in the fourth and you think you’re going to give yourself a chance to win particularly after the third quarter we had.”

Riga have the ENBL’s top scorer in American rookie Frankie Fidler and although Steutel believed his team did a good job on him early on, he ended up being one of the decisive factors by the end of the game as Steutel pointed out.

“Fidler has been really positive for them domestically and in the ENBL for them. In the first half we guarded him exceptionally well. Probably the blueprint on how to guard him.”

“But then to concede 21 free-throws in the fourth quarter and him to go 13 from 13 from the line I find astonishing.”

Fidler finished with 24 points for the hosts but wasn’t the game’s top scorer as that honour went to Eagles’ Cole Long who netted 25 points albeit in a losing cause. The end analysis will show that perhaps Riga just about had the better support.

But those 21 free-throws in a game total of 37 of which the Latvians made 31 against Newcastle’s 12 made from only 17 attempts also perhaps goes a long way to explaining the end result.

For the Eagles it’s now a worrying run of six consecutive defeats across three different competitions but Steutel still has belief in his players and that they can pull through.

“One of the things we talk about is the toughness in our group. Our mindset and mentality is to bounce back work through and continue to push through this period no matter what.”

“No-one feels sorry for us so we’ll be doing all that we can to get this thing going in the right direction. Disappointed that we’re not going to have play-off basketball in the ENBL after two really solid years.”

“But that is what it is and we are where we are. We’re the only people that can use the learning from this situation to move forward.”

“The relentless of this period doesn’t change at all. We’re going into a really difficult time with London on Friday at home, Dubrava next week in the ENBL and the Trophy Final next Sunday as well.”

The last time Eagles faced London was only a fortnight ago when Lions left the Vertu Arena with a 76-50 victory. The lowest points tally Newcastle have ever scored at home. Steutel concluded with his assessment of his team’s challenge ahead.

“London when we saw them the last time I thought we were solid defensively enough but obviously it was one of our poorer offensive games. So we want to change that but we know we’ve got a tough task on our hands with the physicality.”

It’s a SLB Cup Quarter Final on Friday so another competition and a chance to challenge for silverware. The game as usual tipping off at 7:30pm.

Tickets are still available on the box office.