The Newcastle Eagles are through to the Super League Basketball Trophy Semi-Finals after a magnificent road victory in Sheffield on Friday night. Marc Steutel’s men simply refused to be beaten or bowed by a powerful Sharks outfit on a night of high-drama and quality basketball.

Those that know the game say that basketball is a game of runs and never was that better demonstrated in a pulsating 40 minutes that could have gone either way and had a packed Canon Medical Centre in Sheffield on their feet throughout.

The Eagles went into the game knowing a win would put them through. Sheffield had to win by six points to give them a good chance of eliminating Newcastle from the group stages. Clearly the way both sides went at each other showed that both knew what was required.

The Sharks got the first bite in early clipping The Eagles wings to go up by 7 points early in the first quarter. But Steutel’s introduction of ‘Money’ Mike Okauru and Cole Long from the bench reaped dividends.

It gave his side the spark they needed to launch their first comeback with Okauru getting into an early groove he’d continue all night long and Long making back-to-back triples to help pull the visitors back to within a single point at 26 – 25 by the end of the first.

Seven points in a row from Seneca Knight continued the Eagles momentum in the second period giving them a great start and putting them up by 9 points. Back came Sheffield led by the impressive Rodney Chatman as well as Prentiss Nixon.

It meant Sharks led by three at the half-time break at 49 points to 46 with Chatman having 18 big first half points. Steutel and his team had to find away to slow these two down in the second twenty minutes and that’s exactly what they did.

The third quarter was split into two different ‘halves.’ Once again Sheffield showed real steal and forged ahead by 8 points only for Okauru once again to inspire his teammates into a fightback that saw the sides level at 63-points each going into the final quarter.

Sheffield made the better start once again. Back-to-back triples by E.C. Matthews and a Nixon deuce giving them a 78 – 69 lead with 6:24 to go. That’s when The Eagles defence and a might effort from De’sean Allen-Eikens took over.

Both of these factors combining to lead Newcastle to a 14 points to 4 run including 10-points in a row from Allen-Eikens and suddenly inside the last minute it was Newcastle on top by 83 to 82. Jordan Spencer tagged on a free throw with 22 seconds left and finally Sheffield had no response.

A stunning victory for The Eagles who had new point guard Jared Bynum largely watching on from the bench. The newest Eagle only playing 58 seconds in the game but must have been mightily impressed with what he saw.

Okauru was sublime and led all scorers with 25 points. Allen-Eikens late run took him to 17 whilst Long had 13 points. Knight and Malcolm Delpeche also hitting double figures. It all means that it’ll be old foes Leicester Riders in the semi-finals of The Trophy for Newcastle.

Those games are likely to be in the first week of December and will be announced in the coming days. But for now, Steutel and his charges can bask in the moment of a great road victory.