NEWCASTLE Eagles’ BBL Trophy dream is over after a crushing semi-final defeat against old foes the Mersey Tigers.
Chasing a seventh straight Trophy final appearance, the Eagles were made to pay for crucial fourth-quarter mistakes by a Tigers team that silenced the biggest Sport Central crowd of the season with a stunning 77-74 second leg victory.
It was a case of the revenge of the ex as former Eagle Tap Toney contributed important points in the final stanza – while the Mersey fight-back coincided with a superb second-half performance from former Newcastle hero Drew Sullivan.
After leading for so long and establishing a clear first half lead the dramatic denouement was a bitter pill to swallow. But with the normally reliable Joe Chapman, Trey Moore and Charles Smith all missing consecutive opportunities to sink crucial threes they were always running the risk that the Tigers – possessing such an impressive attacking arsenal – would catch them on the hop.
And that is what happened as the Eagles surrendered ownership of the Trophy for the first time since 2007.
There was a bitter irony about the culprits for this defeat – with the talismanic Fab Flournoy responsible for a turnover in the final seconds that proved crucial. The player-coach has been so crucial in the winning run that has launched 2011 but his misplaced pass gave Toney the chance to sink a dunk that handed the momentum back to Mersey.
At least they have the consolation that they played a part in a contest that was as frenetic and frenzied as anything this young arena has witnessed.
This nip and tuck affair confirmed that very little separates the BBL’s two most accomplished teams.
Neither side could establish a stranglehold on the game and it was only when the second period winded down that the Eagles really began to establish any kind of numerical advantage.
GB international Nate Reinking posted an immediate reminder of his ability by draining a three within the first few seconds of the game but despite that strong start from the Tigers it was Flournoy’s men who stamped their defensive authority on the contest, limiting the early influence of Sullivan.
Instead it was Sullivan’s apprentice last year, Darius Defoe, who looked like the game’s most dangerous player, sinking a succession of important points to put the Eagles in early ascendancy.
And after winning that first quarter 24-20 they went on to extend their lead during a frenetic second stanza, which they edged by 25-20 thanks to the energy and ingenuity of the razor-sharp Joe Chapman.
The Eagles went on to dominate the early exchanges in the third quarter and appeared to be pulling away in the contest as Richard and Flournoy threw a defensive blanket over the Tigers’ dangerous attack.
But this was to be Mersey’s best quarter as they stormed back into the contest - causing countless gnawed finger nails among the partisan home crowd. Suddenly Sullivan – jeered for long periods by his former fans – was electric and the Eagles were struggling to breakthrough, handing the Tigers a 19-13 quarter that brought them right back into the game.
It didn’t take the Tigers long to wipe out the Eagles’ slender advantage in the fourth stanza.
And both teams traded blows in a dramatic and controversial denouement that was to leave the home side licking their wounds.
NEWCASTLE EAGLES: Moore 22, Moore 18, Chapman 18.
MERSEY TIGERS: Reinking 20, Toney 14, Thomson 13.
