Esh Group Eagles Newcastle showed once again that they never know when they are beaten, coming from behind to overcome Sheffield Sharks 86-84 in the BBL Championship on Friday.

Without two of their frontcourt focal points in Darius Defoe and Scott Martin, the reigning champions entered the final 10 minutes trailing by eight points as Mike Tuck and Antone Robinson took full advantage for the impressive Sharks.

But an 8-2 start to the fourth quarter, sparked by the evergreen Charles Smith, meant they were back on level terms within two-and-a-half minutes, setting up a thrilling finale.

These two BBL heavyweights went back and forth, Jerrold Brooks landing a huge blow with a three-pointer to break a tie with less than three minutes to play before Drew Lasker and Rahmon Fletcher somehow summoned the energy to draw fouls and pull their team level.

It was then Fletcher who broke the final tie, with 44 seconds to play, and Atiba Lyons’ side could not find a response.

The often overlooked Andrew Thomson led Eagles’ scoring with 19 points while Smith finished with 17.

Tuck was unfortunate to end up on the losing team, going for 25 points as Robinson recorded a 17-point, 15-rebound double-double.