The Chronicle (South Tyneside and Durham)
Sharks take a bite out of the Eagles yet again
PLAY-OFF RIVALS MAINTAIN UPPER HAND
DESPITE an explosive home outing on Friday night against Surrey Scorchers to get back to winning ways, the Seriös Group Newcastle Eagles did not carry that momentum into Sheffield yesterday afternoon.
For a third successive game against their closest geographical opponents the Eagles slipped to a double-digit defeat to lose the season series three to one against an opponent that is also their closest rival in the run to the end-of-season play-offs.
On the evidence of yesterday’s game and the one that took place in the Vertu Motors Arena nine days ago when Sheffield prevailed 87-77, the Eagles will certainly not relish playing the Sharks should the cards fall that way in the final reckoning.
This was a match-up where one of the most free-scoring offences met the league’s best defensive units, and once again it was the defensive efforts of Sheffield that were decisive.
The Sharks have certainly managed to keep Newcastle relatively quiet in their three wins over their more northerly rivals.
Each time the teams have matched up Sheffield have scored above their average and kept the Eagles below theirs.
It all adds up to three league defeats in four for Marc Steutel’s side, who now have to gather themselves and assess their weekend’s work before another play-off rival, Caledonia Gladiators, come to the VMA on Thursday night.
One thing the Eagles will be hoping for is that Jordan Johnson is fit for that encounter. Johnson limped out of this game early after contributing 12 points and six assists with what looked like an ankle injury.
There’s no doubting that his side missed his on-court presence when he was sat on the bench. With the point guard on the court Newcastle were +4 points in scoring and in an eight-point loss it’s huge to lose a player of his calibre that has such an impact on the way his team plays.
Steutel will not use Johnson’s absence in the crucial moments as an excuse. Nor should he. The team and roster is built to cover for each in the case of such issues.
The fact that Newcastle couldn’t was as much down to Sheffield’s ability to make the Eagles take tough shots in the game.
Add in the power and shot selection that the Sharks showed at the Eagles defensive end and that in essence was where the ball game was lost.
Sheffield made every shot Newcastle took a difficult one but at the other end seemed to be able to always find a way to the rim to score when they needed.
Eagles had flown out to a superb start early on in the game and had a 20-8 lead with a tick over four minutes to play in the first period.
But Jalon Pipkins came off the bench for Sharks to massive effect and sparked a 14-2 run to level the first period.
Thereafter Sheffield continued that momentum, and with RJ Eytlerock and Malik Green continually driving holes through the Newcastle defence they turned the game around in the next two periods so much that they led at one stage in the third period by 16 points.
The Eagles did threaten a sensational comeback in the final quarter and got to within three at 75-72 but from there Sharks rallied and pulled clear once again.
Rickey Mcgill’s late triple only served to make it a single-digit defeat in the end.
SHEFFIELD: R J Eytle-rock 19, Malik Green 18 (11 rebounds), Jalon Pipkins 15.
NEWCASTLE: Rickey Mcgill 18, Larry Austin Jr 14, Jordan
Johnson 12.