Newcastle Eagles: The club ’embraces’ the tag of outsiders to defend the SLB trophy
London have won 13 of their 15 league games this season to sit top of the table with two points, five games adrift of second-placed Cheshire Phoenix.
Meanwhile, the Eagles have struggled for a long time, losing 12 of their 18 games to move into eighth place – and in the European Basketball League North, where they were runners-up last season, Newcastle only snapped a five-game losing streak with victory over Croatia’s KK Dubrava on Tuesday.
But they fared better in this competition and beat Cheshire over two legs in the semi-finals to reach this stage.
Newcastle won this event 12 months ago, beating Bristol Flyers 97-78 in the final win their 28th major trophy, the biggest of any club in British basketball.
And Steutel wants the team to embrace that legacy as they aim to shock the Lions and win the Trophy for a ninth time.
“London is a powerhouse,” he said.
“They’re resourced and they’re structured and they’re built to be powerful – and they’ve shown that this year with their home form.”
But we are excited to embrace that underdog mentality and do everything we can to have a historic day for us and for British basketball, and hopefully bring ‘our’ trophy back up north.
2026-01-31 14:24:00
