Another shot at silverware was missed by Newcastle Eagles on Friday night in the Vertu Arena. They went out of the SLB Cup at the quarter final stage against the London Lions 68-94 in what was another tough night for Marc Steutel’s team.

It was a seventh consecutive defeat across the four competitions they’ve played in in January as the Eagles continue to struggle to find rhythm, form and confidence on a consistent basis. These appear to be worrying times for a team that is not turning obvious talent into productive results.

They have now also faced London on four occasions this season and have lost all four. The team from the Capital being very much the domestic trailblazers and looking for a clean sweep of all four National titles this campaign.

It would be a brave person that would bet against such a physically strong talented team doing that as they seem to be able to control all aspects of the game to their advantage.

Newcastle though will have the first real opportunity to put a hole in that Lions ambition next weekend at Birmingham in the SLB Trophy Final when incredibly the two sides will match-up again. Eagles need to use the days in-between Friday’s loss and next Sunday to find some answers to the problem.

It’s going to be difficult as this Lions side doesn’t appear to have any weaknesses to exploit. Every player on the roster plays a part. They are able to rotate their bench at will and whoever comes on seems to slot right into their game DNA.

Defensively they are excellent and although it’s a cliché, the less points you conceded then the less points you need to score to win. For London with their depth of firepower they always, at the moment, have enough to do exactly that.

Not that the Eagles don’t lack weapons of their own. They do and at times show great ability, determination and commitment at both ends of the floor. Just at this moment in time it’s not consistent enough and they are not getting the breaks.

Despite what looks like a very big loss and decisive difference the Eagles did in the words of their Head Coach do better this time out against their nemesis. But they need to be at 99.9% of their game and get London’s below that to effect a win.

Once again as often appear to be the case it was a strong start from their opposition that laid the platform for what was to come for Newcastle. Recent USA signing forward Chaundee Brown and GB International guard Tarik Philip getting them off to an 8-0 start.

Another GB International guard Amin Adamu joined the party and it was beginning to look ominous for the Eagles. Ray’Sean Taylor did come off the bench to good effect to get Newcastle’s scoring rolling but London were in charge and took the first period 26-16.

The second was similar as the Lions’ rotation continued to give them momentum. Shavar Reynolds and Captain Deane Williams being effective. Terrell Burden tried to help his teammates counter the London tide but too many of his them were disrupted by Lions tough physical strength.

Every time Eagles looked to have a chance at closing the gap someone from Lions answered and a 23-17 second period to the visitor’s gave them a seemingly unassailable 16-point lead as the teams headed to the locker rooms.

Then as the third unfolded with Newcastle needing an instant response, four triples from London fired across their armoury took the least past the 20-point advantage. Once again Newcastle didn’t give up in the face of such ferocious pressure and got to within 15-points as they led the quarter.

But Reynolds hit two late free throws to edge his side an additional point in front by the 30-minute mark and then they showed their ruthless relentless nature as they turned the defensive screw even tighter in a fourth period when in reality they could have relaxed.

It all meant that Eagles had no chance of a miracle comeback at any stage and Lions went on to take a comfortable victory that will mean perhaps their biggest danger for next weekend’s Trophy Final could be one of complacency.

For Steutel and his players it’s about preparation and belief. If they can prepare the right way and find the answers they need and truly believe they can execute them then they still have a shot of glory next week in Birmingham. But they also know just how tough that is going to be.

Eagles actually have one further game before that trophy Final. They play KK Dubrava of Croatia in the ENBL on Tuesday night at home. Whilst progress in that competition is virtually a mathematical impossibility it is a chance to get a win on the board before Sunday and break the current losing run.

For Eagles Terrell Burden took MVP honours with 12 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists and Deion Hammond also had 12 points. Ray’Sean Taylor who was active and scoring early was closed down by the Lions defence and could only add a single point in the second half to finish with 11 points.

London by contrast six players in double figures led by GB International guard Amin Adamu with 17 points and Chaundee Brown Jr with 15 points. They also, unsurprisingly in a 26-point victory, led the Eagles across all scoring statistical categories in another powerhouse display of force.