Boss hails his spirited Eagles side

PROUD playcaller Marc Steutel hailed the “fight” in the Newcastle Eagles camp after their dramatic double-winning weekend.

- By JEFF KING

The Eagles rounded off a punishing run of three games in five days with an SLB Trophy victory at Caledonia Gladiators on Sunday.

The current holders’ 79-76 win was the first positive step towards their hopes of retaining the silverware.

That result followed the superb 80-68 success at Sheffield Sharks on Friday night - and Steutel paid tribute to his shorthanded squad as they delivered the goods in the face of adversity.

“I'm just absolutely proud of the battle, the spirit, the fight,’ said Steutel.

“I get to see on a daily basis what the group put into this. We still believe that we can continue to get better, play better basketball.”

Sunday’s game in Glasgow was close and Newcastle had to withstand a late home comeback, but they got the job done by the final buzzer.

“We have to change the narrative, but it was another tough one,’ added Steutel.

“When you look at every team in the league gone are the days when you could expect to blow certain teams away.