Newcastle Eagles’ Magnificent Seven punched their ticket to the 2025 playoff final in sensational fashion to send top seed London Lions packing.

Injury ravaged and exhausted following a gruelling 60-game season, Marc Steutel’s never-say-die warriors somehow found the energy to rack up the most famous of wins.

And in a final set to roll back the years, Newcastle will face fierce rivals Leicester Riders at London’s O2 Arena on May 18.

It’s a record breaking 11^th trip to British basketball’s showpiece finale for the nation’s most successful franchise.

But the battle to get there must rank as one of the toughest in the Eagles’ storied history as Steutel’s men have fought home and abroad to keep their campaign alive.

A third final since January awaits the 2025 Trophy winners and one more win will earn proud owner Paul Blake the organisation’s eighth playoff crown.

Watched by Fabulous Flournoy — the irrepressible player-coach who laid the foundations for two decades of success — Newcastle overcame a 10-point first quarter deficit to come out on top.

And yet again Steutel’s stretched seven-man rotation gave everything to extend an historic season by one more week.

Double doubles for Trey Pulliam and Cole Long epitomised the Eagles’ unflinching will to win.

But there were heroes everywhere you looked on a night when Newcastle reminded their rivals that history counts for everything where this famous club’s concerned.

And yet it could have been a very different story had the hosts not shaken off an atypically shaky start — in the absence of Darius Defoe, De’Sean Allen-Eikens and long-term absentee Malcolm Delpeche.

By the time Ovi Soko entered the game a lightning London start had seen the visitors level the score on aggregate.

And the most famous face on the Lions’ roster took just seconds to find his touch under the offensive glass and shoot Petar Bozic’s men into an overall lead.

But Steutel’s Eagles are made of stern stuff this season and a stunning Christian James-inspired 21-6 run turned a fabulous first quarter on its head.

The US star came off the bench after four minutes and hit 11 huge points — including six on the bounce — to fire Newcastle into a 23-18 lead heading into period two.

Suddenly the men in black led by 11 overall and when Soko picked up a third personal foul 63 seconds after the restart it looked more and more like advantage Eagles.

Pulliam had a boisterous crowd on its feet when his audacious reverse pass from halfway teed up Seneca Knight for a booming dunk.

And those same fans raised the roof just moments later as pantomime villain Soko clocked up foul number four to end his first half involvement.

Newcastle had raced into a double-digit lead on the night and a 16-point lead in the tie — for the second time in 72 hours undisciplined London had no answer to the Eagles’ Herculean defence, heads-up offence and constant hustle.

The hosts took a deserved 41-30 lead into the half and Bozic had plenty to say to the under-fire officials as the buzzer sounded on a dramatic half of top-flight hoops.

But it was what words the Lions’ playcaller had planned for his players that mattered more with the top seeds just 20 minutes away from an embarrassing playoffs exit.

With Long claiming eight first half boards and Pulliam adding seven dishes to his seven points there was plenty of support for an on-fire James.

And the only downside to a dominant first half was Mike Okauru’s three fouls — Friday’s powerful points leader had been restricted to just five points and fallen foul of some seriously tough calls.

But it was the classy American who took control at the outset of the third quarter as he knocked down a trademark triple right under the nose of an increasingly irate Bozic.

Soko stepped back into the action in the 23^rd minute with London desperately searching for some kind of Hail Mary spark.

But the Great Britain international failed to see out the quarter as he fouled Seneca Knight in the paint with Lions trailing 58-51.

Coach Bozic was fast reaching boiling point and a fourth foul on league MVP contender Aaryn Rai hardly improved his mood.

And when Knight became the fifth Eagle to hit double figures — edging closer to another famous double double — it was easy to forget this was a Newcastle roster down to just eight fit bodies.

But fatigue finally started to creep in down the stretch and London clawed their way back to within two points on the night midway through the fourth quarter.

Lions opened up a 70-68 lead inside the 38^th minute — trailing by four overall — to set Newcastle nerves jangling.

But not for the first time this season the Eagles dug deep and put their bodies on the line to close out a memorable win at a rocking Vertu Motors Arena.