EYEING silverware salvation in the end-of-season play-offs, a shattered Fab Flournoy admits he is yearning for one last crack at the Mersey Tigers.

Flournoy’s Newcastle Eagles saw their dreams of a fourth straight league title come to a dramatic, devastating end this week as British basketball’s golden boys were beaten on their own court by Tony Garbelotto’s terrific Tigers.

That riveting 80-75 reverse was the fifth time the newly crowned champions have beaten Newcastle in seven meetings this season, a record which has established the all-British Tigers team as the BBL’s new dominant force.

Flournoy does not dispute the assessment that it was a deserved triumph over the course of the campaign, but he remains convinced the Eagles have it within themselves to topple the Tigers.

With the play-offs still to come, Flournoy’s dream ticket would be another meeting with their north west nemesis in the season’s showpiece final at the end of April.

First up they have to clinch second place in the league, though, putting pressure on Wednesday’s fatigued fall guys to clinch wins in their season-ending double header against the Glasgow Rocks and the Leicester Riders.

Dropping into third – which would happen if the Sheffield Sharks win their remaining fixture and the Eagles lose both theirs – means a likely semi-final meeting with the Tigers.

Eagles begin with a Sport Central showdown with the Rocks tonight (7.30pm) – a game Flournoy believes will reveal whether his team have the reserves of spirit to recover from Wednesday’s shattering reverse.

He said: “It is going to be difficult, but I told the guys in the locker room afterwards you want to play on the final day in the final competition of the season – nothing else matters now.