For the third time this season the Eagles went up against Manchester in the SLB Championship and for the third time not only did they lose they conceded over 100 points again. Manchester showing on a tough night for Newcastle, in front of a sold-out home crowd, just how strong of a side they are.

When the Eagles score 93 in a basketball game they tend to win. Tend though being the watchword and Manchester being the exception to that rule. Eagles Head Coach Marc Steutel has plenty of reasons to reflect on what wrong and will import those to his team in the coming days.

It will reflect in his own words that ‘Manchester are an exceptional team.’ That no matter what his Eagles tried defensively to counterattack the mesmeric Manchester the high-flying North West giants had the answer as they shot the ball well from all angles and distances.

Steutel talked prior to the game of containing Manchester’s ‘Three-Headed Monster.’ Unfortunately his side did not have the defensive approach he had wished for and tried to instil into them on the night. Manchester’s guards Max Jones, PJay Smith Jnr and Jordan Johnson winning the day.

Putting 120 on the board shows the power and ability of this Manchester side and the pace and intensity they play with. It would be easy to say the Eagles weren’t at their best and that would certainly be true but sometimes you just have to hold your hands up and accept your fate.

Not that Newcastle did accept their fate easily. They battled and kept going but their shooting particularly from 3-point range and the charity stripe just was not clean or consistent enough and certainly did not match Manchester’s.

Rebounding too was another area where Manchester got the upper hand as they established their superiority at both ends. Comparing statistics at the end of the forty minutes does not always tell the story but after this forty minutes it probably did.

Eagles were outrebounded 48-34, shot 27% from 3-point range to Manchester’s 40%, Manchester only missed five free-throws all night, Eagles missed 11 and Manchester had 29 assists to Newcastle’s 18. The story of a game that Newcastle will reflect upon and analyse carefully.

Newcastle did have five players in double figures led by Terrell Burden with 20 points and Ray’Sean Taylor with 19. But Manchester had Max Jones with 26, Pjay Smith Jr with 23 and Jordan Johnson 18 as the three guards showed how dangerous they are.

Manchester actually made the better start and were up early in the first period. But Gus Okafor who finished with 14 points personal and Burden came off the bench with good effect to help take Newcastle into a 23-18 lead.

The visitors countered well though and an 11-3 burst gave them the first period by three points. The second quarter was a real battle for long periods. Newcastle coming back to take a lead at 42-40 and the game looked like being a tight one.

But Manchester once again produced a strong finish to the quarter with another 11-3 run that gave them a six-point lead to take into the locker rooms at half-time. On the resumption Eagles were still in the game and got to within 4 points on a couple of occasions.

It was not enough though as Manchester gradually and steadily built their lead with good defence and penetrative transition offence. Outscoring their hosts 2 for 1 into the third with little runs they moved into a strong lead by the end of the ten-minute stretch at 84-65.

Game over with ten minutes to play. Eagles did show fight and determination in the final period but just couldn’t stop Manchester scoring as the visitors took a deserved third win the League series and consolidated their position in the top four of the SLB standings.

Newcastle now have six games remaining and currently sit in the last play-off place which would mean a potential first round match-up against the all-conquering London Lions. What Steutel and his players need now is to refocus and reset to see if they can improve their SLB standing.