‘Magic’ Mike Okauru and Seneca Knight combined for 41 points as nerveless Newcastle Eagles ended a four-year wait for a major honour.

Marc Steutel’s men dominated the 2025 Super League Basketball Trophy final to close out one of the most impressive title wins in franchise history.

And it’s now 28 pieces of silverware for the storied Tynesiders with new-look Newcastle set fair to write a thrilling new chapter in Eagles basketball history.

Knight (22), MVP Okauru (19) and De’Sean Allen-Ekiens (16) paced a powerhouse performance from the jubilant Geordies.

And now attention can turn to going deep in this season’s European North Basketball League (ENBL) and challenging for more domestic prizes.

Newcastle were unable to field January signing Trey Pulliam due to league rules restricting the eligibility of players recruited within a pre-determined registration period.

But the US star — nursing a slight finger injury — was on court for the pre-match warm-up as a close-knit Eagles group put the finishing touches to a first final since 2021.

With seven Trophy titles in the bag, the men in black had history on their side against a Bristol roster seeking its first major honour at the third attempt.

But the raucous buzz of a near sold-out Birmingham final was unchartered territory for the bulk of a new-look Newcastle team seeking to bring back the glory years.

And only dependable veteran Darius Defoe could point to personal experience of lifting silverware with Newcastle — 27 times, to be exact.

But if British basketball’s most decorated player had wondered about the big game mentality of his team-mates then he needn’t have worried.

By the time Defoe came off the bench, four-and-a-half minutes into the first quarter, the Eagles were 13-6 ahead.

And thanks to Okauru that lead had been extended to an incredible 31-19 after the first 10 minutes — an offensive masterclass from the fired-up American setting the tone for a sensational start.

Newcastle’s most potent scoring threat could hardly miss during a frantic opening as he poured in 17 first period points, including five from seven from beyond the arc.

And Okauru’s dynamic display must have delighted the watching Charles Smith — the Prince once bagged 21 opening quarter points in a Cup final for the Eagles against Plymouth at the same arena.

Newcastle maintained the pressure after the restart but it was Knight who took over from his team-mate to keep the scoreboard ticking over.

Last season’s ENBL breakout star bagged 14 second period points as he shrugged off two early fouls to take control.

And the Eagles were well worth a fabulous 52-31 lead at the half — outrebounding the Flyers 26-16, forcing nine turnovers and converting 50 per cent of 18 three-pointers.

Okauru and Knight might have shot the lights out but Josh Ward-Hibbert (five rebounds and three steals), Malcolm Delpeche (five boards and a block) and Cole Long, with a brace of blocks, had thrown a first half defensive ring of steel around their rivals.

And in the battle of the Great Britain coaches it was advantage Steutel with Andreas Kapoulas under serious pressure to turn things around at the half.

True to form, Knight bagged the first bucket of the third quarter as he drained yet another huge triple.

Kapoulas was forced to call a timeout in the 24th minute as an Okauru lay-up, from a cute Delpeche dish, opened up a 30-point Newcastle lead.

And it was going to take an unlikely Eagles capitulation — or a monumental Bristol comeback — to change the outcome of an increasingly one-sided final.

Knight’s fourth foul, with almost three minutes of the third period to play, might have given Flyers some hope that they could pull off the unthinkable down the stretch.

But yet another piece of major silverware was within touching distance for Newcastle as the Eagles took a seemingly unassailable 22-point lead into the final quarter.

Okauru and Allen-Eikens found themselves at the centre of a feisty exchange 80 seconds into the fourth quarter as frustrated Flyers turned up the heat.

But Newcastle kept their cool down the stretch — leaving skipper Defoe to lift the Trophy in front of the hundreds of travelling Eagles fans inside a rocking Utilita Arena.