Marc Steutel described the ‘best 10-point loss of his life’ then paid tribute to the never-say-die attitude of a roster ravaged by injuries.
Newcastle Eagles can look forward to a mouthwatering playoff quarter-final tie against Manchester Basketball this weekend after securing a fifth-place finish in the Super League Basketball Championship.
But just who is fit to suit up for Friday’s first leg on Tyneside is anyone’s guess after another bruising encounter at Cheshire Phoenix saw De’Sean Allen-Eikens added to a mounting injury list.
Newcastle avoided defeat by 12 points or more against Larry Austin Jr’s men on Sunday to seal fifth and Steutel said: “People can look at the 99-89 scoreline but I think you’ve got to look at the circumstances.
“To be finishing the game with only six healthy players reveals just what we were up against.
“Josh Ward-Hibbert wanted to give it his best shot against the Phoenix but after a couple of minutes it was clear he just wasn’t there.
“Mike Okauru’s been playing through a significant injury for the last few weeks and both Chris James and Trey Pulliam are beat up right now. And Sauveur Kande played more key minutes. They all gave it everything.
“Darius Defoe — no matter what — will battle through everything that’s thrown at him and I was really proud of Will Neighbour.
“He’s been sick, his role’s changed a lot this season and yet he was there for us when we needed him at Cheshire.
“Will’s stayed the course, he’s remained the perfect professional and he played with some real toughness against Phoenix.”
Not for the first time this season, late drama defined an action-packed affair at the Cheshire Oaks Arena.
With the two teams tied at 14-18 for the season overall and 2-2 in the head-to-head league series, a titanic last-day game came down to points difference.
And Phoenix moved to within a layup of finishing one place above their northern rivals, only to surrender the initiative at the death.
“As the season progresses, you want to try and finish as high as you can,” added Steutel.
“But we found ourselves where we were in the last few weeks and we wanted to try and lock in that fifth spot.
“For sure you want to try and do it with a win but, like I say, the circumstances meant we needed to approach the game differently.
“There was an aggregate score situation in play so being able to achieve our goals in that environment — and Cheshire’s always a tough place to play — against a dangerous team with so many offensive weapons was a victory of sorts.
“I was proud that we were able to manage the score and the clock and make sure that we retained the head-to-head.”
Cheshire’s talismanic ex-Eagle Austin Jr looked the player most likely to steer Phoenix to the 12-point win the hosts badly desired.
But the feisty guard fouled out inside the last 20 seconds — just one assist short of a famous triple double and with his team leading by 12.
In one fateful second Phoenix had conceded an unsportsmanlike foul and a technical to gift Newcastle three invaluable late trips to the bonus stripe.
And on a night when the nerveless visitors sank 21 of their 22 free throws, Okauru and Defoe netted all three shots at the line to reduce the deficit to nine.
Neighbour — playing more than 30 minutes for the first time in two years — followed up with four from four free throws to keep Cheshire at bay.
And even a late triple from Skyler White wasn’t enough to fire Phoenix into fifth.
Tickets for Friday’s Vertu Motors Arena clash against Manchester are on sale now via boxoffice.newcastle-eagles.com
