FAB Flournoy believes back-court heroes Joe Chapman and Trey Moore are the key to the Newcastle Eagles’ New Year bid to reel in runaway BBL leaders Mersey Tigers.

The pair were instrumental in the Eagles’ impressive defeat of the Sheffield Sharks over the weekend, between them posting 52 of Newcastle’s points in a 112-79 win in South Yorkshire.

But it was Chapman’s efforts in defence and Moore’s superb show in the paint – he missed a triple double by just one rebound – that prompted Flournoy to hail them as the best back-court duo in the BBL.

That is some compliment from notoriously tough taskmaster Flournoy, who admitted from the start of this campaign that strengthening the Eagles back-court was his priority.

And now he is looking for them to prove his assertion with another all-star display against the Guildford Heat at Sport Central tonight (tip-off 7pm).

“The win over Sheffield was incredibly pleasing for me as a coach and the team should be really encouraged by what happened – it was easily our biggest and best win of the season against a good Sharks team,” Flournoy said.

“I know people will look at the stats and see what Trey did to them and he was marvellous throughout the entire game. But for me it was the combination of Joe and Trey that really impressed me – together they were awesome.

“Joe got his 15 points but defensively he was absolutely superb.

“Sheffield are a big-scoring team but Steve Dagostino did not score until the end of the third quarter.

“That was down to how well Joe was playing defensively.

“For me they are the best back-court combination in the BBL. That is one of the reason why we went for Trey and worked so hard to bring Joe back – we knew that they would complement each other really well but now we’re starting to see that really come to fruition.

“People will look at the stats, but the way that they play together is so much more than stats really. Trey’s rebounding allows Joe to make some of the shots that he does, while Joe’s defensive effort gives Trey a bit more freedom. They bring the best out of each other.”

Flournoy always insisted that the Eagles would improve given time on the practice court together, and a tough Christmas training schedule gave them just that. They were in over most of the festive break and all over New Year and the Eagles head coach believes that played a big part in Sunday’s win.

But he admits those Christmas gains will only mean something if they continue to string wins together.

“I hope that going to a tough venue like Sheffield and winning like that gives the guys confidence and belief because they are good enough,” he said.

“We know what we have to do in this second half of the season and that is put the victories together right away. I said all over Christmas in public and in private that there are no more excuses, and I mean it in a positive way.

“Mersey Tigers are the team to beat but we still have to play them and we have to believe that we’re still battling for silverware on several fronts.”

A young Heat side arrive in Newcastle on the back of an encouraging defeat of Glasgow Rocks and Flournoy will not be taking them for granted.

“This is not the mid-table side that Guildford have had over the last few seasons,” he said.

“They are a young side with a point to prove and I think that they have been using people underestimating them as motivation. It is a big game because I believe they are one of the best teams in the league – with a real chance of winning the title.”