Newcastle Eagles’ coach Fab Flournoy remained positive despite seeing his side let a 21 point lead sip at Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders in the BBL Cup semi-final on Saturday.

The two sides will go into Friday evening’s second leg level after a thrilling 90-90 draw at the John Sandford Sports Centre, and with Newcastle also beating UCP Marjon Plymouth Raiders on Friday evening, Flournoy was a happy man: “Really I have to be satisfied with our weekends work. Coming off a short week after a Sunday game at Cheshire to remain undefeated against two top teams like Plymouth and Leicester is probably as much as I could have asked for.

“We were always in control of the game on Friday night and played some excellent defence in the first half in particular. Darius [Defoe] really stepped up for us inside and I just felt comfortable throughout the game.

“Saturday night was an excellent BBL experience. Leicester’s gym was packed and jumping and our guys really responded well in the first half and played with a great deal of defensive energy. Our schedule probably helped our rhythm in the first half but certainly hurt our energy levels in the second half. Credit to Leicester they came back at us hard and whilst they were awarded more foul shots than we would have liked they earned the right to get back into the tie with the way they played.”

Newcastle Eagles’ coach Fab Flournoy remained positive despite seeing his side let a 21 point lead sip at Jelson Homes DMU Leicester Riders in the BBL Cup semi-final on Saturday.

The two sides will go into Friday evening’s second leg level after a thrilling 90-90 draw at the John Sandford Sports Centre, and with Newcastle also beating UCP Marjon Plymouth Raiders on Friday evening, Flournoy was a happy man: “Really I have to be satisfied with our weekends work. Coming off a short week after a Sunday game at Cheshire to remain undefeated against two top teams like Plymouth and Leicester is probably as much as I could have asked for.

“We were always in control of the game on Friday night and played some excellent defence in the first half in particular. Darius [Defoe] really stepped up for us inside and I just felt comfortable throughout the game.

“Saturday night was an excellent BBL experience. Leicester’s gym was packed and jumping and our guys really responded well in the first half and played with a great deal of defensive energy. Our schedule probably helped our rhythm in the first half but certainly hurt our energy levels in the second half. Credit to Leicester they came back at us hard and whilst they were awarded more foul shots than we would have liked they earned the right to get back into the tie with the way they played.”