Newcastle Eagles guard Drew Lasker was smiling from ear to ear after the team made it to their fifth-straight BBL Cup final.

Newcastle beat the London Lions 89-82 on Friday night at Sport Central, with Rahmon Fletcher scoring 33 personal, to book their place against the Glasgow Rocks on January 15.

Newcastle in second-half action (Photo: Newcastle Eagles/ Twitter)
Newcastle in second-half action (Photo: Newcastle Eagles/ Twitter)

Eagles reach fifth-straight BBL Cup final

Point Loma graduate Lasker gathered his emotions after the game and said that he was thrilled to have reached another final with Newcastle.

“I’m just ecstatic,” he said. “This is four or five years in a row for the Newcastle Eagles reaching the cup and four for myself.

“It never gets old, every experience is a different experience and every group is a different group, and I am just elated.

“At the beginning of the season, we weren’t really highly rated among our peers around the league because they seen a new group and to be able to accomplish that with this team is refreshing.”

Lions came out and blitzed

London started the game quickly and wiped out the Eagles’ seven-point advantage within minutes, but Lasker knew how the Lions were going to start the game.

He added: “It was a tough game, we knew London were going to come out playing desperate basketball, which they had to, they were down by seven points.

“They came out and blitzed in the first couple of minutes so we wanted to weather the storm, which we did, and get back to playing how we play basketball.”

The Eagles have reached their fifth BBL Cup final in as many years (Photo: Newcastle Eagles/ Twitter)
The Eagles have reached their fifth BBL Cup final in as many years (Photo: Newcastle Eagles/ Twitter)

Newcastle showing real togetherness

The Eagles worked their way into the game, played their way and managed to come out on top against a highly-rated Lions outfit.

And Lasker believes the reason why Newcastle were the better side in both legs was because of how close the team are.

“I think the difference that separated us in tough games like that is our cohesiveness,” he said.

“We spend so much time together on and off the court and when it comes to make those little plays, we make those little plays and dig out games.”

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About the author
Andrew McDonnell
Sports writer based in the North-East of England, safe to say I have found my niche in sports writing and I strive to succeed with everything I do, including Vavel, both in the UK and USA. First official Writer of the week for the USA office too. Cover Manchester United, Watford, Cricket, MLS and NFL.