Newcastle Eagles look to consolidate fourth spot in the Super League Basketball Championship this afternoon by bagging a weekend win double in Manchester.
Marc Steutel’s men completed a five-match unbeaten run in February on Friday night with an excellent 85–67 victory on the road over the Bristol Flyers.
It levelled the league series between the two sides and further haunted the Flyers after Newcastle’s emphatic January’s SLB Trophy Final win down in Birmingham.
But now attention turns to another tough assignment in Manchester when new head coach Herman Mandole will be looking to bolster the hosts’ own playoff push.
Steutel goes into the game full of confidence following an upbeat post-game assessment of Friday night’s performance.
“Bristol is a really difficult place to play,” he said. “I was really proud of the guys’ energy in practice last week. They had a really good chance to reset throughout the international break. I thought we were really solid — not outstanding but really solid in certain areas of the game.
“We try to pride ourselves on defensive rebounding. We did a good job of that in the first half and to have three quarters out of the four where they had fewer than 20 points gives yourself a chance to win in this league.
“I like that defensive grit and we did a good job on their key personnel on when to switch and not to switch and I thought for the most part we did a really good job in challenging and contesting and making sure it was a one and done.
“There were times in the fourth when I didn’t like our approach and we had to reset again. But to come to Bristol on a really difficult road trip and get a really positive result is great and now we have to rest up and get ready for another difficult game in Manchester.”
The win consolidated Newcastle’s fourth place in the SLB Championship standings and moved them to 10-7 record at the same time — a record they’ll very much like to raise to 11 wins this afternoon.
The Eagles fly into Manchester having already beaten their North West opponents in the Championship on their own court 89–85 early in February. The two sides though did also split their two Trophy Group games each winning at the other’s home.
Sunday will see the home debut on the sidelines of new Manchester coach Mandole — an Argentinian who has experience at both international level with his national team and in the top division of Italy’s highly rated Serie A with Varese.
No doubt the home side will be looking for that ‘new coach bounce’ which Newcastle will have to be wary of as Manchester’s players look to impress their new boss.
But the Eagles will be without Malcolm Delpeche after the forward was stretchered off court following a heavy fall on Friday. The club is awaiting news on the extent of any injury and hopes to provide an update on Monday following a full assessment of the former Flyers favourite.
Once again it was ‘Money’ Mike Okauru who led the way for Newcastle on Friday — confirming another MVP performance against Bristol who must be sick of the sight of the SLB’s leading scorer.
Okauru had 19 points, five rebounds, three assists and one steal in the highest rating index of any player on court.
There were four of six triples included in his points tally and with Cole Long coming off the bench to net three of five from beyond the arc in his 14-point supporting effort these long-range bombers played a huge part in shooting the Flyers down.
Not that they were alone as all the Eagles players who entered the court played their parts with rebounds, steals and assists a-plenty with Josh Ward-Hibbert and De’Sean Allen-Eikens both netting 15 points. GB International Ward-Hibbert added five rebounds and Allen-Eikens a team-high eight boards.
Tip-off this afternoon is 3pm with the action screened live and for free on DAZN.
