Solent Stars 99 - Sutton Pumas 89

STANDING at a "midget-like" 6ft tall, Mark Jackson is one of the smallest players on the Solent Stars team. But on Saturday night at Eastleigh's Fleming Park Sports Centre, the Solent guard gave a towering performance as the south coast outfit continued an impressive home record which sees them unbeaten in three NBL games.

"Mark Jackson was excellent tonight," said coach, Mark Scott, afterwards. "He's got this great talent of finding open spaces, if only he would open his mouth a little more.

"Maybe the fans want a charismatic entertainer, but Mark just goes out there and gets the job done. He's becoming a general on the team, and though he only scored 14 points tonight, look at the number of assists and creation out there.

"Jackson, who lives in Redbridge and first played for one of Solent's junior teams at the age of 14, rejoined his hometown club this season after a spell playing with the top-flight Brighton Bears.

At the start of the campaign, as Solent struggled pitifully in the National Trophy, so Jackson became submerged in the sea of mediocrity. But now after team wins over Manchester, Hackney and Sutton, allied to an encouraging performance at title-favourites Teesside last weekend, the 26-year-old is coming out of his shell.

Jackson was bright and sparky throughout as Solent dominated this game from start to finish. They punished some woeful Sutton defending in the first half, rattling in the baskets, while working hard for each other.

Jackson called the shots, bringing the ball up confidently, dazzling defenders with his ball skills and picking out his team-mates with unerring accuracy.

Solent led 54-51 at the break, before Sutton, who had decisively defeated the hosts in a National Trophy clash earlier this season, rallied in the second, trading baskets with Jackson's team.

But the Solent number nine led by example. Chewing hard on his gum, he refused to panic, cajoled and coerced his team-mates, and in one great piece of action, snaffled a loose ball from around his ankles, surged forward, beat a man outside and then hooked the ball into the basket left-handed.

He later found Anthony Rutter under the basket with a dead-eye 10 metre pass which oozed class.

With six minutes left, the game was delicately poised at 82-80. An edgy crowd sensed Solent, despite their domination, would fold once Sutton levelled. The Surrey side tried. They worked the inside, layed-up to the basket, but twice the Solent defence held firm.

"We didn't buckle, and we held on," said Jackson. "We didn't want to give them the psychological edge of drawing level with us, and we had to keep them out. We showed great

character at that stage.

"As Sutton edged into team fouls in the final five minutes, so Solent eased towards a deserved victory.

"When we beat Manchester, that was huge, that was a big win for us," added Jackson. "But this felt good too. It is nice to see that we can win games, and it is a habit we want to get into.

"His coach, Mark Scott, was equally delighted. "It is great to see the guys playing for one another," he said. "Hopefully our game is beginning to come together. We need to see if we can take this on next week."