The Newcastle eagles are without a trophy since they last won the British Basketball League playoffs in the 2020-21 season.

It may not seem like a long period without a trophy, but Newcastle Eagles fans will be desperate to watch their team lift their first piece of silverware in nearly four years.

English basketball enters a new era of the sport – being rebranded as ‘Super League Basketball’ – and every team will be fighting to be the first side with their name etched into the inaugural ‘SLB cup’.

The competition will be fierce with the Sheffield Sharks topping the regular season standings, and the London Lions chasing down their prey as they sit second in the division. Narrowly defeating their Sheffield rivals on Wednesday night – with a score of 80-77.

However, this is not the regular season and the Newcastle Eagles have already displayed their ability to defeat any team on any given night, no matter what level of talent the opposition possesses. 

First up is the match-up being dubbed as ‘The Battle of the Border’, as the Caledonia Gladiators make the seemingly short trip to the Vertu Motors Arena – that is if you want to class a three hour bus journey as short but I digress,

With Marc Steutel’s side already dominating the Gladiators on two occasions this year, they have to be feeling confident. But, as previously mentioned, this is a cup tie and every player has to be on their A-game if they want to progress to the next round.

Allen-Eikens led the scoring for the Eagles in the opening game of the season boasting 20 points – with an outrageous 81.8% field goal percentage. The man was on fire.

Mike Okauru decided that he wanted a slice of the action in the second meeting between the two sides as he registered a monstrous 27 points – again with a field goal percentage of 71.4%.

It would be highly surprising if the home side deviate much from their game plan that was so effective in the first two games. Expect to see plenty of damage being done in the paint from the Eagles with the occasional 3-point attempt if they are looking to stretch the floor – they have only shot a combined total of 33 3-point attempts over the two ties.

This should be an opportunity that the most successful side in British Basketball League history should relish. It is a chance for this side to turn around the fortunes of a team that are in desperate need of a trophy. There is no doubt in my mind that the roster is talented enough to bring home the trophy!