Perfect storm sees Eagles exit Trophy
NEWCASTLE Eagles need a break, in more ways than one. Battling to deal with a loaded London Lions team and injury, the Eagles are proof of what a congested schedule can do to even the most talented of groups.
Last night’s 16-point loss saw Newcastle’s defence of their BBL Trophy come to an end at the quarter-final stage. It was also their fourth reverse in five games, all of which have come in the last 11 days.
What was already going to be a tough night’s work was made even more difficult when Evan Maxwell went down just 80 seconds into the game. With star forward Justin Gordon having missed four of their last five games, it only adds to Ian Macleod’s frontcourt headache.
Despite the scheduling nightmare and the injury woes, Newcastle fought hard and did their utmost to make it a competitive contest in the capital.
With Maxwell heading to the locker room less than a minute and a half into the game after crashing to the floor while defending, Shore Adenekan put in his best display to date.
Maxwell returned into the second half – he scored 11 of his 14 points in the third quarter – but some serious damage had already been done to a short-handed Eagles line-up.
Aside from Maxwell managing to come back into the game, there were other positives.
Cortez Edwards was a whisker away from a triple-double in an allaction display, finishing with 16 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
His partnership with captain Rahmon Fletcher, who finished with 12 assists but just seven points, also continues to flourish. Sharpshooter Louis Sayers scored with four of his seven three-point shots.
Early on, it looked like Newcastle could come away with an invaluable victory, though.
Despite falling 19-12 behind after Maxwell’s injury, Macleod’s men showed their fighting spirit and came storming back.
Inspired by Edwards reeling off six points in a row, a 14-4 run to close out a highly charged and entertaining opening 10 minutes saw the visitors go 26-23 in front.
The Eagles even managed to push that out to a 42-37 lead in the second quarter before the Lions started to show what they can really do.
The hosts started to find their range from beyond the three-point line and made four in a stunning 14-2 burst in the final two minutes of the half.
Orlando Parker hit three of those with Justin Robinson making the other but that little flurry only served to show how lethal the Lions can be.
It all meant that all of a sudden, Newcastle were 51-44 behind going into half-time and needing to figure out how to regroup.
When the teams came back out for the start of the second half, London picked up right where they left off and stretched their lead decisively.
A 10-2 start to the second half took their lead to 15 points and they never looked like throwing that away.
The visitors never threw the towel in but the gap was just too big to haul back despite Maxwell returning to add some offensive power.
For London, top scorer Deandre Liggins, the ex-NBA star and former team-mate of LeBron James at the Cleveland Cavaliers, made six on the night on his way to a game-high 24 points as Lions shot 50% from beyond the arc, making 15 of 30. Eagles themselves hit 13 of 28 from the same range, including four from Sayers, but ultimately Lions’ outside game made it tough for Newcastle to defend inside.
London were able to switch their mode of attack and dominated in the paint, notching 46 inside points to Newcastle’s 28.
Going into the final quarter 79-67 down, they at least drew that last 10 minutes.
Newcastle fought valiantly and went toe-to-toe with arguably the BBL’s deepest team despite being short-handed and short of energy but their Trophy defence is over.
Newcastle will have to recover quickly as they host Cheshire Phoenix on Friday in the BBL Championship as they look to put pressure on Leicester Riders and the Lions.