Solent Stars 103, Sutton Pumas 104

Mark Scott isn't too happy about it but in terms of entertainment value, Solent Stars must be offering one of the hottest tickets in town right now.

It doesn't seem to matter who they play because you can almost be certain of two things - a high-scoring match where the outcome isn't known until the last few seconds.

This was the fifth time in the last six home league and cup matches that the result has been decided by four points or fewer but whilst the fans are enjoying some tremendous games, coach Scott has had enough of them.

After seeing Solent lose for the second time in a week by just one basket, he told me: "We're not here to entertain, we're here to win."

It's the sort or reaction you'd probably expect of a coach and you could understand his point for Solent would now be in the top half of the league if they'd been able to close out some of those games.

Seven points ahead (92-85) entering the last five minutes, Stars were well placed to go on and win but they lost their way after Matt Crawford racked up two quick fouls to put him out of the game. That left Solent without any real height in defence whilst also upsetting some of their attacking play where they had successfully pushed the ball into Crawford to spin and score or set up openings for others.

At a crucial phase of the game, Stars found their attacking options bare and apart from one field basket from the excellent Mark Jackson, all they could manage was a series of near misses. That was never enough given the flow of points at the other end where former Solent favourite Marlin Capers (33pts) was outstanding for the Pumas.

With 13 seconds remaining, Solent trailed 97-102 but in a crazy, hectic sequence of fouls, free throws and missed opportunities, Jackson twice landed big three pointers to leave Stars just one point away from forcing overtime.

Coach Scott blamed a lack of awareness for the defeat. He added: "Apart from Smokey (Capers) and Todd Cetnar, I didn't see too many players on their team capable of hurting us but we missed too many free shots, didn't make the offence work and when the shot went up we weren't hungry enough for the rebound."

Scorers: Jackson 29, Story 29, Crawford 15, MacDonald 13, O'Harabe 8, Mundy-Castle 6, Glover 3.

Teeside Mohawks 102, Solent Stars 87

For the second time in four years, Solent Stars found themselves on the road to Teesside for a one-off cup semi-final and as before, they left the north-east cursing their fortune at being handed such a draw.

Just hours after the whistle had sounded on the match with Sutton, Stars found themselves heading north on the M1 to play opponents who'd been able to switch their scheduled Saturday fixture to enable them to play at home.

Although Solent had made representations to England Basketball about the timing of the fixture, it was all to no avail and in the circumstances they produced a pretty good performance in Sunday's National Cup semi-final.

It wasn't good enough to overcome the current league champions but it continued to show the promise if only the squad was a bit stronger - injuries and unavailability to the likes of Anthony Rutter and Duane Laight leaving them short of numbers.

As might have been expected, Teeside started the fresher but five points from the free scoring Matt Story meant Stars were only 18-21 behind at the end of the quarter and when Alan MacDonald levelled moments later, hopes were raised. But a quiet spell enabled Teeside to build again and Stars were left to rue missed opportunities as they trailed 38-49 at half time.

A disjointed game included 48 fouls and Solent were to lose Matt Crawford and Nick O'Harabe in the 33rd minute. Four three pointers from Mark Jackson briefly closed the gap but Stars couldn't get any closer as they suffered their first ever National Cup semi-final defeat.

Scorers: Story 32, Crawford 16, Jackson 15, Mundy-Castle 11, O'Harabe 8, MacDonald 7.

Solent play their last home match of 2003 tomorrow when they meet Worthing at Fleming Park (8pm).