Brighton Bears 84 - Milton Keynes Lions 73
(17-17, 36-36, 70-56)

The Bears continued their push towards the BBL League title with this ultimately comfortable victory over the Milton Keynes Lions at the Burgess Hill Triangle. With a suspended Nick Nurse watching from the stands the Bears struggled to get going in the first half, but a dominant third quarter put the game beyond the Lions' reach, and left the Bears within three victories of the title.

Neither team was able to exert their dominance in a stop-start first quarter that was punctuated by frequent blows of the referee's whistle. Ralph Blalock signaled his return to fitness with a pair of three pointers, but some strong inside play from Andrew Alleyne helped keep the scores tied at 17 apiece at the first buzzer.

The Lions seemed to be heading for trouble early in the second quarter when both Alleyne and Michael New picked up their third fouls and had to head to the bench. Victor Payne stepped up to plug the gap though, scoring 12 points in the period to help the Lions edge ahead. A 9-0 Lions run opened up a 23-31 lead for the visitors, helped by a number of second look shots as the Bears struggled to assert themselves under their own backboard. Seven points from Blalock in a 9-3 run to end the quarter helped the Bears to narrow the gap to 36-38 at the interval.

Alleyne and New returned to the fray at the start of the third period, although New's stay on the court was short lived as he quickly picked up his fourth foul. For the first time the Bears were beginning to raise the tempo of the game, and quickly put together an 8-0 run to 48-42. A three pointer from Dru Spinks helped cut the deficit, but Rico Alderson repaired the damage for the Bears, scoring 7 quick points to move 57-49 ahead. With Blalock again connecting from behind the arc and the Bears moving the ball well to find the open man, the game was beginning to run away from the Lions who ended the quarter 14 points adrift at 70-56.

Brighton maintained their advantage throughout the final period, with five points from Mike Brown giving the Bears their largest lead of the game at 80-62. Eight points from Freddie Cole helped narrow the gap in the closing minutes, but could not prevent the Bears running out 84-73 victors. Attention now shifts to the crucial match-up with the Sharks on Sunday afternoon, with the victors all but assured of the league title.

Brighton Bears 76 - Sheffield Sharks 89
(26-23, 46-38, 63-67)

The Bears' BBL title challenge suffered a setback at the hands of the visiting Sheffield Sharks at the Brighton Centre this evening, with Chris Finch's men coming from behind to record a 13 point victory. The Bears had started the better, but allowed their frustration at inconsistent refereeing to fatally break their concentration in the fourth quarter.

A pair of three pointers from Randy Duck and Sterling Davis opened the night's scoring, and before the Sharks had had time to catch their breath a 10-0 lead had been opened up. Some strong inside play from Wilbur Johnson extended the Bears' advantage at 14-2, before a brace of treys from Jerry Williams kick started the Sharks' challenge. Four points from Justin Phoenix edged the Sharks closer, and at the end of the first quarter the Bears' lead had been trimmed to three points at 26-23. Both teams were living up to their billing as the best teams in the land, putting on impressive displays at both ends of the court.

A 10-4 start to the second quarter saw the Bears re-establish a healthy lead at 36-27, before Chris Finch's men responded with a 7-0 run of their own, built upon excellent ball handling to find the open man. The Bears still held the upper hand though, with Duck and Davis leading the charge to take the Bears into the dressing room 46-38 up.

Within 2 minutes of the restart the Bears advantage had been eliminated, with Nate Reinking and Williams posting 8 straight points for the Sharks. Sheffield took their first lead of the game at 50-51, but were unable to extend their advantage as baskets were traded for the next few minutes. Only at the end of the quarter were the visitors able to edge further ahead, with three pointers from Rod Yanders and Williams giving their team a 63-67 lead to take into the final ten minutes.

What was perhaps the turning point of the game came early in the fourth quarter, with Nick Nurse being called for a Technical Foul after voicing his frustration with the referees at a series of missed calls. The Bears had lost confidence in the officials and in themselves, and the Sharks were able to take full advantage, dominating the game in a 22-6 run to open up a 20 point lead with two minutes remaining. Only Randy Duck had scored for the Bears in this period, while Phoenix and Reinking were able to keep the Sheffield's score ticking over. With the game lost the Bears regained their composure to score the last 7 points of the night, ensuring that the points difference between the two teams is in the Bears' favour going into their final encounter. The maths is simple. If the Bears are able to win their final 6 games, the title will still be theirs.

Bears scorers : Duck 20, Alderson 19, Davis 17, Johnson 12, Brown 6, Blalock 2

Brighton Bears 82 - Essex Leopards 81
(21-14, 50-32, 67-58)

Tonight's encounter at the Brighton Centre between the league leading Bears and the play-off chasing Leopards was very much a game of two halves.

For the first 20 minutes the Bears continued their recent run of good form, building up a comfortable 20 point lead over their visitors, but after the interval it was a very different story. Mike Taylor's men staged a remarkable comeback, and will count themselves unlucky to have gone away empty handed. The Bears' title challenge remains on track, although this game will surely have taught them that they can take nothing for granted.

Both teams started slowly in the first quarter, with defence dominating offence and the ball being turned over on numerous occasions. Eight successive points from Ralph Blalock mid way through the period gave the Bears some breathing space at 14-7, although Rod Brown playing well and keeping the Leopards in touch. A third three pointer from Blalock saw the Bears take the first quarter 21-14, although The King suffered for his exertions by picking up a dead leg which saw him sit out the rest of the first half.

Slowly but surely the Bears extended their lead in the second quarter, with Rico Alderson landing two three pointers while Sterling Davis began to assert himself under the basket. Yorick Williams couldn't get a shot to drop for the Leopards, and an 11-4 Bears run to close the half saw them take a healthy 50-32 lead into the locker room.

With the game seemingly theirs for the taking, the Bears struggled to get going in the third quarter, while the Leopards upped their game and refused to lie down. A three pointer from Randy Duck gave the Bears a 20 point lead at 56-36, but the Leopards struck back with an impressive 15-2 run to close the gap to seven. Sly McIntosh was leading the Leopards' scoring efforts, netting 10 points in the period. The Bears managed to restore the lead to double digits at the end of the third, at 67-58.

Sterling Davis picked up his fourth foul early in the final period and had to watch helplessly from the bench as the Leopards' revival continued. Seven points from Williams helped his team narrow the gap, and with three minutes on the clock the score stood at 79-73 to the Bears. Suddenly the crowd began to fear the worst, and six straight points from the Leopards, including an alley-opp from Marshall Sanders, brought the teams level on 79 points. Ralph Blalock scored on the Bears' next offence, but with 50 seconds remaining Rod Brown evened things up at 81-81 with a tough floating shot. Agonisingly the Bears turned over the ball on their next possession, but then redeemed themselves by stepping up their defensive efforts to force the Leopards to commit a 24 second violation. The Bears had 9.5 seconds to win the game, and the responsibility fell to captain Randy Duck. He drove to the hoop but was fouled, and with 3.6 seconds on the clock had two free throws to edge the Bears ahead. To gasps from the crowd his first penalty shot rimmed out, but Duck held his nerve to slot home the second. The Leopards had one last chance to snatch an unlikely victory, but to the relief and elation of the home crowd McIntosh's off-balance three pointer bounced harmlessly off the backboard. The Bears' title aspirations remain on track, but nothing can be taken for granted.

Bears Scorers : Davis 20, Blalock 19, Duck 17, Alderson 14, Johnson 10, Brown 2

Brighton Bears 107 - Newcastle Eagles 92
(31-18, 55-39, 80-57)

The Bears picked up where they left off at the weekend with this convincing victory over the visiting Newcastle Eagles, leading from tip to buzzer. The performance of Nick Nurse's men in the first 15 minutes was possibly their most awesome spell of the season so far, and underlined the threat the team now poses to the title aspirations of the Sharks and the Jets.

A three pointer from Ralph Blalock opened the night's scoring and signaled the beginning of a great game from behind the arc for the Bears, with "The King" netting 6 of his team's 15 successful shots from three point land. A great spin move from Wilbur Johnson helped the Bears move into a 9-0 lead, and the advantage was extended as Michael Brown and Randy Duck both hit a pair of long range efforts. The Eagles were struggling to find their rhythm and found themselves as much as 18 points adrift before a buzzer beating three from TJ Walker closed the first quarter at 31-18.

The Bears quickly re-established their dominance in the second period, scoring the first 15 points to open up a mammoth 46-18 lead with only thirteen minutes played. A blow-out looked on the cards, but the Eagles showed their strength by re-grouping and putting together a 17-2 run of their own to bring the deficit down to 13 points. Niki Arinze was doing most of the damage for the Eagles, but his team still trailed 55-39 at the interval.

An 8-0 run early in the third quarter extended the Bears advantage to 22 points, and despite the best efforts of Arinze and Walker the Eagles were unable to claw back any of the deficit. Michael Brown netted nine points for the Bears in the period, which closed at 80-57.

Although Fab Flournoy's men never threw in the towel it was clear that there was no way back, and the Bears began their celebrations early with some fourth quarter highlight reels. Johnson demonstrated his dominance under the boards by following up a block with a one handed jam at the other end, and when Michael Brown threw an alley-oop for Sterling Davis to slam home, the celebrations really began. To their credit Newcastle fought to the death, with Jeremy Hyatt in particular impressing, but by this point damage limitation was the name of the game. The Bears now go into Saturday's crucial match with the Chester Jets full of confidence, looking to make a decisive push for the title.

Bears scorers : Blalock 25, Johnson 24, Brown 20, Duck 17, Davis 10, Alderson 7, Seaman 4

BBL 01/03/03

Brighton Bears 98 - Birmingham Bullets 61
(25-14, 54-31, 77-43)

The UN weapons inspectors may not be getting things entirely their own way in Iraq at present, but the resurgent Bears had no such problems in decommissioning Birmingham's bullets in tonight's contest at the Burgess Hill Triangle. With Randy Duck making a welcome return the Bears were back to full strength, and the team demonstrated their superiority in an awesome display of sharp shooting and aggressive defence which saw them dominate the game from start to finish.

Nick Nurse employed a full-court press from the start, and the pressure soon yielded dividends as the Bears went on a 10-0 run to 12-3. Michael Brown had netted two three-pointers in that opening spurt, and when Sterling Davis added a third the Bears held a double digit lead with only 4 minutes played. Randy Duck entered the fray half way through the quarter, and demonstrated how far his recovery has progressed in driving to the hoop to open up a 21-7 lead. With barely six minutes played the game was already in danger of being out of Birmingham's reach, although a trey from Antwan Jones cut the deficit to 11 at the end of the first period.

The Bears continued to pile on the pressure in the second quarter, with Davis and Johnson dominating under the basket to help open up a 38-19 lead. Five points from Kevin Griffin kept the Bullets' score ticking over, but the Bears were almost scoring at will, with Duck and Ralph Blalock connecting from behind the arc to end the half with a 10-2 burst to 54-31.

The third quarter saw more of the same, with the Bullets firing blanks as they struggled to breach the Bears' defences. With Head Coach Tony Garbelotto absent through suspension and point guard Rob Paternostro sidelined with an injury the Birmingham outfit were clearly missing leadership, and were unable to find a way to close the Bears down. A coast to coast drive by Rico Alderson followed by another trey from Duck saw the lead stretched to 35 points, and at the end of the period the Bears held an impenetrable 77-43 lead.

A three-point play from new signing Jason Medford helped the Bears to a 10-2 run at the start of the final period, and with 6 minutes to play the Bears stretched their advantage to an astonishing 46 points at 95-49. Victory well and truly assured, Nick Nurse gave Bud Johnston and Oliver Roache some valuable court time as he rested his starters for the crucial games ahead. With the league leading Sheffield Sharks slipping up at London tonight, the Bears title hopes are well and truly back on track.

Bears scorers :    Davis 25, Duck 20, Johnson 12, Blalock 11, Alderson 10, Brown 8, Seaman 6, Medford 3, Johnson 3

Brighton Bears 71 - London Towers 68 (OT)
(14-14, 24-25, 44-42, 60-60)

The Bears brought their three game losing streak to an end with this overtime victory over the visiting London Towers, but it wasn't pretty. In a low scoring encounter both teams struggled offensively, but in the end it was the Bears' cooler nerves that saw them sneak home.

John O'Connell opened the game with a three pointer for the Towers, but there were very few fireworks in the first quarter, other than those provided by the referees. With less than 5 minutes played three Technical fouls had been dished out - to Wilbur Johnson, Danny Craven and the Bears bench - and for a while it seemed likely that the foul count would overtake the scoreline. Three pointers from Ralph Blalock and Michael Brown finally brought the Bears into double figures though, and the game was tied at 14 apiece at the first buzzer.

Unbelievably the scoring actually slowed down in the second quarter, with only 10 baskets being landed in the 10 minute period. Kendrick Warren was beginning to assert himself offensively, with a three pointer, an off balance two and a running hook shot providing 7 of the Towers' 11 points in the period. With Johnson picking up his third foul the Bears' options were limited, although 4 points from Rico Alderson, including an athletic tip-back, kept his team in touch. The Towers held a one point half time lead at 24-25.

The momentum picked up in the third quarter, with the Towers opening up a five point lead at 28-33. Four points from Johnson in an 8-0 Bears run saw Nick Nurse's men nose in front, before a three and a two from Shaheen Holloway edged the London side back in the lead. A brace of treys from Michael Brown restored a slender Bears' advantage to take into the final 10 minutes.

The game remained close for much of the fourth quarter, as baskets were traded and neither team was able to open up a lead. Sterling Davis began to make an offensive impact for the Bears, but it was Holloway who dealt the potential body blow, scoring a three pointer to give the Towers a 56-60 lead with 1 minute on the clock. Wil Johnson was fouled on the Bears' next offence but coolly slotted home both free throws to cut the gap to two, and the responsibility fell to Theo Dixon to kill the game off for the Towers. Crucially his shot bounced back off the front rim, and after a scramble it was the Bears who came up with the loose ball. With the game, and potentially the Bears' title aspirations in the balance, Ralph Blalock nailed a 15 footer to tie the game with 7.8 seconds on the clock. The Towers were unable to get a shot off in their final offence, and so the game headed into overtime.

The Bears earlier lethargy was nowhere to be seen as a shot-clock beater from Mike Brown followed by a turnaround jumper from Blalock and a three point play from Rico Alderson gave their team a 7-0 start to the extra period. The game seemed to be won, but the Towers kept battling, and a three pointer from ex-Bear Sammy Salter brought the deficit to 4 at 70-66. When Wil Johnson missed two free throws nerves began to fray, and two points from Robert Youngblood with 14 seconds on the clock cut the lead to two. Blalock was quickly fouled, and although he missed his first free throw, he held his nerve to nail the second. The Towers needed a three pointer to send the game into a second period of overtime. John O'Connell found space to fire off an attempt, but to the relief and jubiliation of the Bears and their fans, it missed the mark. With Randy Duck seemingly poised to make an early return from injury for the Bears, their title challenge is still on.

Bears Scorers : Brown 16, Johnson 14, Alderson 14, Blalock 14, Davis 11, Seaman 2

Brighton Bears 101 - Scottish Rocks 105
(21-21, 50-40, 75-72)

Although the Bears were without Randy Duck and Emiko Etete for this game, and had only a half-fit Ralph Blalock at their disposal, this was a game they could, and probably should, have won. In taking a 10 point advantage into the second half the Bears seemed like the game was theirs for the taking, but in the end the persistence of the Rocks paid off, and they headed back up the M1 with deserved victory under their belts.

Honours were even in the first quarter, although an 8-0 Rocks run to 11-18 sounded early alarm bells for the Bears. Nick Nurse's team were turning the ball over far too often, although a brace of three pointers from Sterling Davis helped bring the teams level at 21 apiece at the first buzzer

The Bears began to assert themselves more in the second quarter, with Wilbur Johnson dominating under the basket and 'Downtown' Mike Brown landing two threes to edge the Bears ahead. Sheckles, Bunyan and Myers all connected from long range in reply for the Rocks, but the Bears were slowly edging ahead, and ended the half 50-40 ahead.

Brighton's advantage was short lived, however, as the Rocks burst out of the dressing room, with Sheckles landing consecutive three pointers in a 14-0 Rocks run to snatch the lead at 54-55. The Bears were finding easy baskets hard to come by, but managed to keep the scores close for the rest of the third quarter. A Technical foul called against a verbose Kevin Wall helped give the Bears the lead at the interval, with Davis contributing 6 more points to give the Bears a slender 75-72 advantage.

Davis continued to dominate offensively at the start of the fourth quarter, scoring 9 more points in notching up 15 straight points for the Bears. Ted Berry made sure the Rocks kept the scores close though, and an 8-0 run mid way through the period gave the Scots a 84-88 lead. Some strong play from Shawn Myers helped the Rocks stretch their lead to 7 points at 87-94, but a three pointer from Davis and a two from Rico Alderson brought the Bears back within 2 at 92-94 with 1:35 on the clock. Ryan Huntley missed both of his free throws from the next Rocks offence, but crucially picked up the resulting rebound and edged the Rocks 4 points clear. Johnson went strong to the hoop on the next Bears play, but Ted Berry replied with a killer three pointer with 47 seconds remaining to give the Rocks a 94-99 lead. The Bears were forced to foul the Rocks to send them to the line, but the visitors' nerves held as they scored 6 from 8 free throws in the closing seconds to seal the victory. The Rocks had played aggressive defensive all evening and had been well served with 12 points from their bench players. On the night a short handed Bears outfit couldn't match them.

Bears Scorers : Davis 36, Johnson 21, Alderson 20, Brown 19, Blalock 5

Brighton Bears 76 - 66 London Towers
(23-15, 40-34, 57-49)

The Bears continued their impressive start to the season by leading the London Towers from tip to buzzer in tonight's BBL Trophy match-up at the Triangle, Burgess Hill. The Towers, without star player Terrell Myers through injury, were heavily reliant on Kendrick Warren, but even his tally of 19 points and 17 rebounds were not enough to keep the Bears at bay.

Nick Nurse decided to rest Michael Brown's injured ankle for the game, but the Bears' made up for the absence of their shooting guard with a first quarter display of top-notch long range marksmanship. Ralph Blalock opened the scoring with a three pointer and both Sterling Davis and Wilbur Johnson connected twice from behind the arc before the first ten minutes were out. New Towers' signing Theo Dixon had helped keep his team in contention with 6 early points, but a 11-2 run from the Bears gave the home town team a 23-15 lead as the first buzzer sounded.

Kendrick Warren's powerful presence under the basket helped the Towers keep pace in the second quarter, but even he was helpless when Sterling Davis unleashed a killer cross-over and 15 foot bank-shot on him to give the Bears a 31-23 advantage mid way through the period. A Ronnie Baker three-pointer helped narrow the gap, before Davis added his third long range basket of the night. The Bears led 40-34 at the half.

Tempers began to fray early in the third quarter when Rico Alderson picked up an unsportsmanlike foul for reacting to a chop from Dixon, but the Bears regained their composure and maintained their lead. The Towers found themselves in foul trouble as the quarter progressed, and could find no way to cut into the Bears advantage.

The Bears turned up the pressure at the start of the final period, with a Blalock-Duck alley-oop bringing the crowd to its feet. When Rico Alderson nailed a long jumper to give the Bears a game high lead at 64-51 the game looked to be in the bag, but the Towers finally found some momentum of their own, and bounced back with a 9-0 run containing a three pointer from Baker and two scores from Wilkerson. Wilbur Johnson edged the Bears ahead at 66-60 before rejecting Warren at the other end, but the Towers netted the next basket to close to 66-62. On the Towers' next offence Dixon headed for the hole, but again Johnson blocked his shot, and before you could blink had sped up court to slam home a fast-break pass from Duck. The Bears held a 68-62 lead with 2:32 on the clock, and stepped up their defence as the Towers were held score-less for the next 2 minutes. Baker, Warren and Dixon all picked up their fourth fouls as the clock ran down, and Brighton were able to hold on for a comfortable 76-66 victory.

Bears Scorers: Johnson 22, Davis 16 (+ 11 rebounds), Alderson 15, Duck 11, Blalock 10, Etete 2