SOLENT STARS 93 (20, 45, 72) - WORTHING THUNDER 94 (20, 48, 76)

Having lost the opening two home league games by just one point, amazingly Solent Stars did it again in a thrilling English National League Division 1 contest.

Both sides made nervous starts and missed scoring opportunities but Solent settled sooner than their high-riding opponents and opened up a brief five-point gap (11 - 6) midway through the first quarter.

The lead increased when Nick OHarabe worked well inside the Worthing defence to tip in two baskets, but later disappointed the home crowd when he missed four consecutive free throws.

Worthing were able to work their way back into the game and their fourth successful free throw of the quarter brought the scores level as the period ended.

The second quarter also was full of mistakes and incidents which kept the 400-plus crowd entertained. Worthing reached the team foul situation by the third minute and Paul Mundy-Castle was able to take immediate advantage to open his scoring account with two free throws.

Both sides were giving no quarter in a full-blooded contest as the lead changed hands five times in the quarter.

Mundy-Castle provided valuable assists to help Matt Crawford and Matt Story score from close in just when it seemed Worthing might be gaining the upper hand.

Crawford, in particular, was having an outstanding game, both in defence and attack, even scoring his first three-pointer of the season.

A confused end to the half was caused by a timekeeper mistake which led to no visual last 19 seconds countdown and both teams hurried shots in an attempt to score one more basket before the interval.

A third quarter technical foul charged on hard-working Nick OHarabe demonstrated the intensity of the game and Worthing's subsequent possession led to a successful three-point shot to take them into a four-point lead (64-68) in a quarter where the lead had changed hands ten times in the opening five minutes.

The game looked to be all over at the end of the second minute of the final quarter when Solent lost concentration and fell 11 points behind (74-85).

Turnovers by Alan McDonald and Matt Story gifted Worthing several points in this period but, once again led by inspirational captain Mark Jackson, who scored eight quick points, Solent found themselves trailing by just three points with two minutes remaining.

David Butterworth then converted a three-pointer, which turned out to be Worthing's last scoring shot.

Jackson replied in like kind and Matt Crawford crowned his game by adding two more points.

A controversial out-of-bounds call by the referees gave Solent possession of the ball with nine seconds remaining but they were unable to get an uncontested shot away and once again fell to the narrowest of defeats to leave them in a perilous league position prior to trips to league leaders Teesside Mohawks and Manchester Magic.

Scorers:

SOLENT: Matt Crawford 26, Mark Jackson 23, Matt Story 22, Nick OHarabe 15, Paul Mundy-Castle 7.

WORTHING: Jamal Johnson 22, Steven Gayle 20, Gaylon Moore 15, Danny Hildreth 12, David Butterworth 8, James Brame 6, Okolie Ugbana 4 Sam Mead 3 Chris Wright 2 Damien Harris 2.

Attendance: 427.