After a third successive Friday night home loss in the Vertu Arena the Newcastle Eagles now know their final position in the SLB standings and who their quarter-final opponents will be. They will finish eighth in the table meaning they take on regular season Champions, the London Lions.

That’s going to be a tough challenge and task for Marc Steutel’s men with the Lions having already netted three of the four National trophies on offer in the regular season. Now they find the Eagles standing in their way of a clean sweep of all four titles in the play-offs.

The Eagles will have to raise their standards and performance hugely if they are to pull off an upset against a side that they have faced six time this season in three different competitions and lost on each occasion.

But that’s for next weekend and before that Head Coach Marc Steutel and his players have to head to Bristol on Sunday for what many will see as a meaningless last regular season game. If such a thing can really be called so in a professional sporting environment.

Steutel expressed his disappointment at the end of the game and commented that his players were hurt and how much the defeat had stung. Not just that they lost the game and with it the chance to move up the standings but that they lost once again in front of raucous loyal fanbase.

Leicester had come into the Arena on the back of two great victories home and away over fourth placed Sheffield Sharks during the week. They had confidence and momentum and, in the end, just enough about them to take a victory in a dramatic double-overtime encounter.

That it took a full fifty minutes to separate the sides in truth was down to neither side shooting the ball well and defences being on top for the vast majority of the game. Both coaches know each other inside and out and are very familiar with each other’s teams and style of play.

That was evident in the respective game plans. Eagles knew they had to cut off the supply and impact of the SLB’s hottest hand Flynn Boardman-Raffet and Riders knew stopping Ray’Sean Taylor would go a long way to having a successful night.

Both did those jobs well with Boardman-Raffet actually having to leave the game with an injury deep in the third quarter. Taylor meanwhile was restricted throughout the same three quarters but got going in the final stretch and almost brought the Eagles a win.

There was so little to choose between the sides scoring wise throughout the regulation 40 minutes. Eagles edged a nervy first period 17-16 with both sides finding it difficult to score. Gus Okafor promoted to the starting five being Newcastle’s leading light.

With Boardman-Raffet restricted it was Kedrian Johnson and Travis Evee who mainly carried the Riders fight to Newcastle. They helped their teammates to turn the game slightly in the visitors favour with an 18-14 ten-minute effort that put them up 34-31 at the half-time break.

It could have been worse for Newcastle as they were down by five with the ball in Leicester hands on the last play of the first twenty minutes. But a superb steal and thunderous dunk finish from Okafor gave Newcastle the last points of the half.

The third followed the first two. Both sides largely cancelling each other out but Josh Ward-Hibbert looking stronger with every game was the catalyst and driving defensive force that enabled Newcastle to take the third by 17-13 and have a one-point lead going into the final period.

Once again there was nothing in it in that final ten minutes. Taylor had though shown that he might be the man to break the shackles but Leicester with an Evee free-throw lead by two with ten seconds left to play. Crucially he missed one of his two.

It gave Eagles a chance and Taylor was the man to take it. A glorious coast-to-coast drive and a two-point layup with three seconds left on the clock meaning the game went to overtime at 67-67 and everyone drew breath.

The first five minutes was even. The tough combative Mitch Clarke netting a deuce from Eagles and then Taylor hitting seven personal in a row. But Evee, Johnson and Xavier Bledson keeping Riders just in front until Taylor netted two free-throws in his seven to tie the game once again.

Cole Long on his way to a double-double finally netted a triple to give Eagles an early lead in the second period of overtime but that was when Riders and Johnson struck the decisive blow with a game-breaking 9-0 run which included seven points from the former Bristol guard.

It was Leicester’s biggest run of the night and although Newcastle and Taylor with Long in particular kept battling it was a significant blow. Riders being able to hold on finally to a lead that they added to from the free throw line to take in the end a well-fought victory.

Basketball is a game full of statistics. They amount hugely to an analysis of every encounter. Eagles will look at how Leicester got to the free throw line almost twice as many times as they did, 39 to 20. In an eight-point game and especially the timing of those visits that was crucial.

Steutel will look at his side’s shooting. Only 10 from 45 from three-point range was way, way below their standards and having 22 additional offensive possessions to Riders and yet only making one basket extra is another. But the only statistic that really counts is the end of game score.

Newcastle now travel to Bristol on Sunday. Perhaps the biggest and best thing they can get from that game is that they suffer no more injuries to the roster. They are certainly going to need as much firepower as they can get with London due in town next weekend.