NEWCASTLE Eagles will wrap up their second successive BBL Championship title if they beat old rivals Scottish Rocks at Newcastle Arena tomorrow night.

A victory for Fabulous Flournoy's team - or a defeat for Everton Tigers at MK Lions - will see the Eagles become the first side since London Leopards in 1998 to claim back-to-back Championship crowns.

Newcastle will start as favourites tomorrow, having beaten the Rocks in three of the sides' four meetings this season.

But with the title on the line, Flournoy is expecting a keenly-fought encounter on the banks of the Tyne.

"It's a pivotal game," said Flournoy. "Not only can we win the Championship, but they've dropped a few recently and need to get back on track before the play-offs. No one wants to go into the post-season not playing well.

"They've had a few injury problems, but the history between the two teams show that they always play well against us. I expect the same thing again, and they'll want to stop us winning the league on our court.

"With the exception of us and Everton, everyone's playing for play-off positions. It's so tight that you can be third one week, lose a game and drop down to sixth."

Eagles extended their winning stretch to 15 games with a 95-82 win over Worcester Wolves on Sunday, but Flournoy was far from satisfied with his side's display.

"We played okay," he said. "We started off really well, but the game kind of fizzled out. I think we knew it had got to the point where we knew we wouldn't lose, and they knew they wouldn't win."

Scottish Rocks player-coach Sterling Davis has been impressed with Newcastle's recent winning run, but is confident his side can upset the odds to end it.

"It's a big game for them because they can win the league, but we should use that as motivation," said Davis. "I'm really impressed with their winning streak - it's a real accomplishment - but we should want to be the team who ends it and makes them wait to win the league."

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