DESPITE a heroic second-half fightback, the Eagles came up short in Milton Keynes last night, losing a pulsating game.

Over the next ten or so days it will become clear how damaging this loss will be, but already it is a serious blow to Newcastle’s aspirations of holding on to their BBL Championship crown.

Already faced with the loss of MVP candidate Trey Moore, whose broken metatarsal has ended a stellar season prematurely, Newcastle were unable to field potential replacement Andrew Lasker as a last-minute paperwork regulation came to light.

Add in another long trip which was made even longer by a motorway accident meaning Eagles only arrived 30 minutes before the start, and it’s a wonder that they got as close as they did, particularly as Charles Smith suffered a rare off-night with his normally deadly shooting.

In the absence of Moore, head coach Fab Flournoy needed someone else to step up big and skipper Andrew Bridge played the full 40 minutes and led from the front. There was also an excellent double-double from Darius Defoe who added 13 rebounds to his top-scoring 21 points, while Reggie Jackson continued his recent fine form.

Lions big man Travis Nelson was virtually unstoppable inside, Demarius Bolds once again scored heavily and there was a significant contribution from ex-Eagle Shawn Myers.

Andre Lockhart was given a rare start by Newcastle but couldn’t help his side, who struggled to get their game going. Perhaps legs had still been left on the coach and players weren’t quite warmed up, but Lions came out with more energy and intensity and scored the first seven points of the game to put the Eagles in trouble.

By the end of the first period, it looked a long way back for Flournoy and his depleted roster as they trailed 24-14 and in truth could have been down by more. Into the second and Defoe and Jackson got their side going but Lions held them at bay and still looked in control.

They took the second period by a much narrower 23-21 margin to lead 47-35 at the break. However, this Newcastle side is made of stern stuff and are not reigning league champions for nothing.

Flournoy rallied his troops and they came out all guns blazing in the second half.

A tremendous start to the third quarter saw them slowly but surely claw their way back in to the game and a 26-14 period had the game level with ten minutes to go at 61-61. The final quarter was non-stop action with neither side able to establish a significant advantage and the game could have gone either way.

However, it was the Lions who just had enough to hold off the Eagles as they sneaked home in the final period with Smith’s last gasp long-range effort on the buzzer falling short to complete a tough day for his side, and a heartbreaking loss in the Championship race.

With Championship rivals Mersey Tigers defeating Sheffield Sharks 87-82, the Liverpool-based side knocked the Eagles off the top of the BBL and now look red-hot favourites to take the league Championship title.

Eagles have to lick their wounds, recover quickly and recharge as they face a difficult weekend with trips to Worcester on Saturday and Plymouth on Sunday. They will hope to have Lasker in their ranks by then to help them bounce back quickly.

MILTON KEYNES: Travis Nelson 26, Demarius Bolds 22, Shawn Myers 16

NEWCASTLE: Darius Defoe 21, Reggie Jackson 18, Andrew Bridge 15