NEWCASTLE Eagles have suffered an injury blow as point guard Paul Gause faces a fortnight on the sidelines.

Gause suffered a grade one tear in his calf during practice last week and while the Eagles managed to prevail over a spirited MK Lions on Friday, it is a setback for the BBL’s early pacesetters to be without their playmaker for another two weeks.

The New Jersey native has improved over the weekend and has an outside chance of returning in time for the trip to play Cheshire Jets on November 20, but he’s almost certain to miss the crunch BBL Cup game against Glasgow Rocks. Flournoy said: “There is a lot of swelling there which has obviously prevented a more thorough diagnosis, but it looks like two to three weeks at the moment – which obviously makes him very doubtful for Friday.

“I was with him over the weekend and his mobility has improved. He’s off the crutches that he was on at the end of last week, which is encouraging, but we wouldn’t risk him unless he was fully recovered.”

The Eagles are lucky to have a trio of senior men on form at the moment – and Charles Smith is experienced and talented enough to fill in at point guard in the interim. With back-up from Andrew Bridge and Flournoy himself, Newcastle can certainly continue to prosper in his absence.

But Gause has been in good form – even if there have been one or two strained moments with his new player-coach along the way.

Some Eagles observers wondered whether Gause’s absence might have been linked to an on-court bust-up with Flournoy during the tense defeat of the Sheffield Sharks.

The two clashed after Gause was fouled out, but the Eagles player-coach dismissed those wicked whispers, saying that it was “to be expected” from a new arrival.