Caledonia Gladiators basketball team suffer first home loss in new multi-million pound arena

Caledonia Gladiators’ unbeaten home game streak came to end in a fiery face off against the Newcastle Eagles.

The 82-73 defeat marked the first at home loss for the Gladiators since they moved to the PlaySport Arena.

The win made the Eagles the first team this season to win back-to-back games after a home turf victory over Plymouth the night before.

The fiery match up saw former Glasgow Rock turned Eagle, Jordan Johnson, return to Scotland and bring his three pointers with him.

A moment of madness ensued as Johnson and Prince Onwas went head-to-head. Supplied

Though Gladiators may have been the favourites going into the game, the match proved difficult with the team consistently levelling out from the first quarter.

It was the third quarter where the game really heated up with both sides going back and forth, desperately trying to take control of the scoreline.

A three from Ian Dubose in the third minute of the period gave Gladiators a four-point lead but it would barely last a minute and Johnson levelled for Eagles with a three of his own.

A moment of madness ensued as Johnson and Prince Onwas went head-to-head before the point guard went flying to the ground.

The Eagles player went running back at Onwas but was intercepted by teammate Green who carried him off to the other side of the court.

Onwas was ejected from the game, and Johnson picked up a foul for the interaction.

Palyza regained Gladiators lead from the resultant free-throw, but the feisty episode had Johnson fired up who converted both of his to flip the scoreline back in Eagles favour.

Fans were hopeful after the Gladiators managed to cut an 11-point gap to just 75-73 with two and a half minutes to go but Eagles were quick to respond and conclude the match with a seven-point run.