Newcastle Eagles reached the BBL Cup Final for the fourth time in the last eight years when they beat Leicester Riders 76-71 in the only semi-final.
Evan Maxwell and Cortez Edwards scored 19 and 18 points respectively for the Eagles, who never trailed in a close second half and held on to win.
London Lions, the 2019 winners, will be Newcastle’s opponents in the final at Worcester on 24 January.
WBBL Cup holders Sevenoaks Suns have pulled out of the women’s final.
In a statement, the Suns, who have NHS workers and physiotherapists who work with coronavirus patients on their team, pointed out that “the Covid situation has changed markedly since we began our season in November and this has hit us hard.”
Instead, Nottingham Wildcats, the team beaten by Sevenoaks in the semi-final, will take on Leicester’s women’s team in the WBBL final.
The Newcastle-Leicester game was the only semi-final as Manchester Giants were forced to forfeit their tie against London Lions, because of a number of players having to self-isolate – putting the Lions straight into the final.
Newcastle led for the whole of the second half until Leicester tied the game 70-70 with two-and-a-half minutes remaining, but Justin Gordon’s three-pointer and a two from Edwards effectively settled the game in their favour.
“We ground it out – we’re becoming a team that comes to fight,” said Eagles coach Ian Macleod, who also praised Maxwell. “We challenged him to win the physical battle and he did.”
Manchester had been scheduled to host both semi-finals, but when the BBL’s Covid-19 protocols forced the Giants to concede, the remaining semi was switched to Leicester’s Morningside Arena.
“Although it is a heart wrenching decision, it’s the right thing to do to keep everyone safe and follow the protocols set out by government and the BBL’s secure play policy,” the Giants said in a statement.
