Marc Steutel has challenged his evolving Eagles to go harder as a six-game winning streak is put to the test in December.

November’s Molten Kevin Cadle Coach of the Month — the first time Newcastle’s playcaller has bagged the award — led the men in black to a hard-fought victory against fierce rivals Leicester Riders on Friday.

But Steutel was clearly unhappy that a sloppy second half display allowed the East Midlanders to escape with a 95-91 defeat in the first leg of this season’s Trophy semi-final.

“I was frustrated with quite a few aspects of our play in the second half,” he admitted.

“At times I thought Leicester played harder than us and that’s not a trait of this Newcastle team at all.

“That really frustrated me because I know we can do better.

“We allowed Charles Thompson to impact the game after the break — but not so much in the first — and so that was disappointing.

“But we know Leicester are a good team and we always knew this tie would go the distance for 80 minutes.

“It’s pleasing to get a four-point win at home but I think there are a few possessions we’d like to take back given the opportunity.”

Newcastle are in Latvia ahead of tomorrow’s European North Basketball League (ENBL) clash at Valmiera Glass VIA having lost just one of their last nine games.

And it’s a measure of just how far the Eagles have come that Steutel was dissatisfied with a hot and cold display against a talented Riders roster that coasted through the group stages of the Trophy with a 100% record.

But Newcastle’s playcaller prides himself on impeccably high standards and knows his players can’t afford to take their foot off the gas after laying the foundation for a winning season.

“Look, Leicester did a good job to get back into the tie,” added Steutel after the hosts thundered into a 17-point half-time lead.

For the second Friday on the bounce Newcastle blew away a top five rival after the first 20 minutes only to be pegged back after the break.

And Steutel knows the Eagles will need to impose themselves on the Riders for longer periods if they are to stamp their ticket for January’s Trophy final in Birmingham.

“We turned them over a lot in the first half and we looked after the ball very well,” he added.

“We didn’t turn them over as much in the second and we’ll need to look at why that was.

“It was a game played in our style for 20 minutes and played in Leicester’s style for 20 minutes.

“We’ve got 40 minutes in the league against them next weekend and then we’ve got another 40 minutes in the Trophy just before Christmas.

“I’m excited to get into both games. By the end of the month we’ll know each other really well.”

In-form Seneca Knight led all Eagles scorers on Friday but the US forward echoed his coach’s sense of frustration.

“We’ve just got to stick to what we do and we kind of lost our way in the second half,” he admitted after adding four rebounds, three assists and two steals to his 23 points against the Riders.

“We gave up the lead to a really good team and we can’t afford to do that against the same players again.

“We need to be consistent and trust in what we do. Sometimes we stray away from that and it’s something that we need to fix.”

Newcastle’s only defeat since November 1 has come at the hands of early Championship pacesetters London Lions in the capital.

But the Eagles arrived at the Copper Box Arena shorthanded that day and Steutel has since bolstered his roster with the addition of Christian James.

The US guard’s immediate impact has led to the departure of Jared Bynum.

Tip-off is 19:00 in Latvia, 17:00 UK time, when the game will be live and free to watch on the ENBL YouTube channel.