MANCHESTER Giants player Olu Babalola has left the club by mutual consent, with immediate effect.

The experienced forward joined the club in the summer but he and the club have agreed for his contract to be terminated.

A club statement said: "The club, players and fans would like to thank Olu for his efforts this season and wish him every success for the future."

On the court, the Giants suffered a 119-81 defeat to Newcastle Eagles.

The visiting Newcastle came out on top, despite a solid start from Yorick Williams’ men.

The Eagles made a fast start with the opening six points, but Ingus Bankevics netted twice from deep to put his side 8-6 ahead early on.

The lead was exchanged a few more times in a high-scoring quarter with Williams cutting the gap to one with a three-pointer before the buzzer.

Newcastle began to pull away at the start of the second with a 13-2 run before a further 13-1 burst later in the quarter took the lead beyond 20 points.

Chapman scored nine in the period as the Eagles racked up 60 in the first half.

The Giants continued to battle in the third quarter and managed to cut the gap with a 7-0 run, but the visitors closed the period with a 13-3 run to lead by 28 heading into the final quarter.

There was no let up in the fourth from the league leaders and the Thomson brothers scored their team’s final 10 points with the final margin of victory at 38 points as Reiss Haggith ended the game with a three for the Giants.

Bankevics led the Giants with 21 points while Callum Jones had 18 and Stefan Gill 10.