Last weekend was a fantastic double-winning pair of signature victories for Head Coach Marc Steutel and his Newcastle Eagles. Not just convincing score lines, 108-97 over Cheshire at home last Friday and then 98-76 in Bristol last Sunday, but excellent performances as well.

Now the Eagles fly into another double-header weekend with confidence and optimism brimming. They take on the Super League Basketball (SLB) Championship’s bottom side Caledonia Gladiators at home in the Vertu Arena before travelling down to London to face the league leading Lions on Sunday.

Steutel started his preview of the Caledonia game by reflecting on last weekend and giving his thoughts on his team’s performance.

“Just really, really proud of two good performances for us. I think defensively in both games we were really disruptive, really connected on the defensive end. We helped each other, we rotated the right way.”

“We played with a level of intent a level of ferocity a level of force defensively and I think that gave us the platform to play with the right level of offensive execution, spacing etc.”

“Both performances were good, but we know that we don’t dwell on them now and we look forward to another tough double-header weekend.”

Caledonia may be at the wrong end of the SLB standings but last time they visited the Vertu Arena just after Christmas they shot down the Eagles 87-79. That was after Newcastle won the opening Championship game of the season up in Scotland 109-104 leaving the league series tied at 1-1.

Steutel knows how important the game is and that his side face a challenging task despite Gladiators position.

“We’ve got a tough game on Friday against Caledonia. They’re in the middle of a tough run right now but every team in the League has probably had a couple of games when they’ve been in the middle of a tough run and found a way to snap out of it.”

“We’ll be doing all that we can to make sure that’s not against us. We know that they’ve got some talented pieces, so we have to make sure we lock into the same defensive blueprint. Being really disruptive and really committed to our cause on the defensive end.”

“That’s the biggest things that we have to try and commit to and like I say once you’ve had a little bit of improved performance and improved morale, you’ve got make sure you still commit to doing the simple things each and every day. That’s what our focus has been this week.”

Steutel concluded with his hopes and thoughts for what’s in front of his team.

“Hopefully, we can continue to improve and develop. We know we’ve got nine league games left and we want to continue to fight in each and every one of them and show that same level of fight at home in front of our fans on Friday.”

A win against Caledonia on Friday would be the Eagles fourth league victory in a row and very much keep them moving in the right direction. It would also give them a level of confidence and determination before they make the tough trip to London on Sunday afternoon.

The SLB Championship game against one of the Eagles’ fiercest rivals tips off on Friday night at 7:30pm in the Vertu Arena.

Tickets are still available on the box office.