Newcastle Eagles slipped to a fifth loss on the bounce as fatigue, a lack of focus and a failure to stick to the scout allowed Bristol Flyers to avenge February’s homecourt defeat without breaking sweat.

Head coach Marc Steutel and his embarrassed senior players were unanimous in their verdict that one of the poorest performances of the season can’t be allowed to happen again.

And there is a collective belief and determination that the men in black will come back harder and stronger in time for the visit of Bakken Bears on Tuesday.

Apart from brief second period flashes of what this Newcastle team does best, the errant Eagles looked a shadow of the side that destroyed Bristol in January’s 2025 Trophy final.

And Steutel insisted that his players needed to look beyond the loss of three key players since that historic day in Birmingham and engage in some serious soul searching ahead of a huge game against the reigning ENBL champions next week.

“When you’ve got a depleted group then four games in eight days takes its physical and mental toll,” he said. “I’m not ignoring that.

“But against Bristol the guys turned the ball over and committed lazy fouls. There was no scout application, the ball was sticking and we weren’t taking good looks.

“We came off a game on Tuesday where we were playing the same tactical concepts but the ball’s zipping and everyone’s got good energy.

“There’s a physical element and we have to acknowledge that. You can’t look past that.

“But fatigue doesn’t show up in the win-loss column so we’ve got to try and find a way to be better

The contrast between a battling display against a bullish Bakken side in Aarhus and a listless performance back home was stark.

Newcastle started slowly and finished with a whimper as buoyant Bristol made the most of a bad night at the office for Steutel’s men.

And there were no excuses from the horribly off-key hosts as multiple attempts to find some rhythm and momentum stalled.

Flyers raced into a 19-15 lead and the visitors extended that advantage to nine points before Trey Pulliam and Seneca Knight set about hauling the Eagles back into contention.

The former — who finished with 20 points, eight rebounds and four assists — kept finding a way to the hoop while the latter hit six straight points to reduce the deficit to two.

And as the teams headed to the locker room at the half, hopes were high that Bristol’s 40-37 lead wouldn’t last.

Three minutes into the third quarter and any dreams of another famous come-from-behind win were shattered as Flyers opened up a double-digit advantage and never looked back.

Andreas Kapoulas’s men were 13 ahead after three quarters and led by 18 midway through the final period.

By now Newcastle were playing on fumes and even a locked-in Christian James couldn’t find the late firepower to scare the Flyers.

On a night of few positives for the home side, benchman Sauveur Kande at least strengthened his case for more minutes by keeping Bristol keen at the defensive end.

And Pulliam and James ultimately combined for 40 points to get some key scores under their belts before Tuesday’s Bakken test.

Four days’ break from competitive action could be enough to supercharge a talented Eagles roster with so much more to play for this season.

But the dual target of retaining a top four Championship spot and progressing into the Final Fours of this season’s ENBL looks like an increasingly tough ask for a team in urgent need of a fresh spark.

Newcastle Eagles slipped to a fifth loss on the bounce as fatigue, a lack of focus and a failure to stick to the scout allowed Bristol Flyers to avenge February’s homecourt defeat without breaking sweat.

Head coach Marc Steutel and his embarrassed senior players were unanimous in their verdict that one of the poorest performances of the season can’t be allowed to happen again.

And there is a collective belief and determination that the men in black will come back harder and stronger in time for the visit of Bakken Bears on Tuesday.

Apart from brief second period flashes of what this Newcastle team does best, the errant Eagles looked a shadow of the side that destroyed Bristol in January’s 2025 Trophy final.

And Steutel insisted that his players needed to look beyond the loss of three key players since that historic day in Birmingham and engage in some serious soul searching ahead of a huge game against the reigning ENBL champions next week.

“When you’ve got a depleted group then four games in eight days takes its physical and mental toll,” he said. “I’m not ignoring that.

“But against Bristol the guys turned the ball over and committed lazy fouls. There was no scout application, the ball was sticking and we weren’t taking good looks.

“We came off a game on Tuesday where we were playing the same tactical concepts but the ball’s zipping and everyone’s got good energy.

“There’s a physical element and we have to acknowledge that. You can’t look past that.

“But fatigue doesn’t show up in the win-loss column so we’ve got to try and find a way to be better.”

The contrast between a battling display against a bullish Bakken side in Aarhus and a listless performance back home was stark.

Newcastle started slowly and finished with a whimper as buoyant Bristol made the most of a bad night at the office for Steutel’s men.

And there were no excuses from the horribly off-key hosts as multiple attempts to find some rhythm and momentum stalled.

Flyers raced into a 19-15 lead and the visitors extended that advantage to nine points before Trey Pulliam and Seneca Knight set about hauling the Eagles back into contention.

The former — who finished with 20 points, eight rebounds and four assists — kept finding a way to the hoop while the latter hit six straight points to reduce the deficit to two.

And as the teams headed to the locker room at the half, hopes were high that Bristol’s 40-37 lead wouldn’t last.

Three minutes into the third quarter and any dreams of another famous come-from-behind win were shattered as Flyers opened up a double-digit advantage and never looked back.

Andreas Kapoulas’s men were 13 ahead after three quarters and led by 18 midway through the final period.

By now Newcastle were playing on fumes and even a locked-in Christian James couldn’t find the late firepower to scare the Flyers.

On a night of few positives for the home side, benchman Sauveur Kande at least strengthened his case for more minutes by keeping Bristol keen at the defensive end.

And Pulliam and James ultimately combined for 40 points to get some key scores under their belts before Tuesday’s Bakken test.

Four days’ break from competitive action could be enough to supercharge a talented Eagles roster with so much more to play for this season.

But the dual target of retaining a top four Championship spot and progressing into the Final Fours of this season’s ENBL looks like an increasingly tough ask for a team in urgent need of a fresh spark.