Newcastle Eagles picked up where they had left off last weekend with another excellent powerhouse display at home in the Vertu Arena. For the second week running they scored over 90 points whilst restricting their visitors to under 70.

Early days of course in the campaign but early signs that the 2026/27 Newcastle Eagles may well be a force to be reckoned with. Tough, tough defence and free-flowing exciting offence were the order of the night as Head Coach Marc Steutel’s side put the Gladiators to the sword.

From the first tip-off Newcastle were dialled-in and on their game and pretty much had the contest all sown up by the time the teams headed for the locker rooms at half-time. Their defensive prowess leading to regular scores across the roster as the points were shared across the bench.

Once again, the home side did all that they did without Captain Josh Ward-Hibbert who is still recovering from an ankle injury. It was though encouraging to see Ward-Hibbert suited up on the bench but wisely Steutel did not risk him in this game.

Instead, the rest of his side highlighted once again their undoubted talents, abilities and togetherness with a performance that will have no doubt pleased the Head Coach. Steutel though is a perfectionist as he rightly should be and will dissect the game with his coaching staff.

He may well look closely at the end of the third period and the start of the fourth when Caledonia briefly threatened an unlikely comeback. But in reality, even that threat was nullified and in truth the game was over long before it happened.

The Eagles on the back of 7-points personal from Blondeau Tchoukuiegno jumped out to an 11 – 0 start. It gave them a lead they were never to relinquish for the rest of the game. Gladiators did rally and get back to within six-points but that was as close as they got.

Kyle Carey came off the bench to good effect and helped spark another big Newcastle run that took their first period lead to 26 – 11. Caledonia netting the last three of the quarter to trail by 12 going into the second.

Eagles maintained that lead throughout the second 10-minute stretch and actually continued to build as the game progressed. Whenever Caledonia threatened a run Newcastle hit them back harder and more or less doubled anything the Scottish outfit could throw at them.

Cole Long was looking deadly from 3-point range with a couple of triples and Carey continued his excellent first half with two highlight plays late on. Two steals and two dunks with Long adding another deuce gave the Eagles a 6 – 0 run into the half-time buzzer.

It meant a 54 – 28 lead as the sides headed to the locker rooms. A superb first 20-minute effort from the Men in Black and one that virtually left Caledonia down and out and certainly with more questions than answers.

The opening to the third saw them find some small answers as they opened with a 9 – 3 run. But Tavis Smith who had only scored three points in the first half hit back-to-back triples and Long continued scoring and the Eagles had their biggest lead of the game at 66 – 37.

That was when Gladiators rallied and showed their mettle. An excellent run with the likes of Terry Roberts, Braxton Williams, and Al-Amir Dawes in particular pulling them to 15 – 4 burst to end the third. But all that did was bring the Eagles lead down to 18-points as the final quarter began.

Gladiators even scored the first five points of that final period, but it was never going to be enough. Tchoukuiegno and Smith restored parity, Eagles locked down defensively and reasserted authority.

With the visitor’s now in foul trouble the Eagles went to the charity stripe at regular intervals and although overall missed 11 free-throws during the 40 minutes they were always adding points when needed.

A final run of 14 – 4 from Newcastle closed out another fine win in great style. Statistics play a huge part in basketball, and most were well in the home side’s favour on the night. Outrebounding their opponents 43 – 32, forcing 20 turnovers and making 11 steals the stand-out figures.

It was another good all-round display. Smith leading the way with 19 points and 4 assists. Cole Long taking the MVP honours with 16 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks. Tchoukuiegno had 16 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists whilst Carey had 11 points.

So, job done and done in style. There is a really exciting buzz around this Newcastle Eagles team at this moment, and Coach Steutel has to be pleased with the way his players are coming together in the early part of the season.

Don’t miss the next home game when the Eagles look to go 3-1 to start the season by getting tickets from the box office.