DESPITE surrendering possession all too frequently, Solent Stars continued their revival with an 86-81 victory over Teesside Mohawks on Saturday night.

Coach Alan Cunningham was full of praise for his squad, but acknowledged: "Forty turnovers in a game is not the kind of statistic that normally ends in a win!"

After an even start to this English League Division 1 encounter at Fleming Park, a burst of points from Teesside carried them 15-9 up before American Marlin Capers knuckled down to score seven points, giving Solent a slender lead.

Mohawks then pulled six points clear towards the end of the quarter before Stars' other American, Larry Parker, trimmed the deficit to 24-20.

Frequent substitutions by the visiting coach helped Teesside keep up a defensive pressure on the Solent team, who had no chance to settle.

At this stage of the game, Cunningham's men appeared to have no answer to the fast-moving Teessiders and, by the eighth minute of the quarter, found themselves 16 points down, 49-33.

However, they dug in and last-minute points from Capers, who scored 25 in the first half, and Parker halved the Teesside lead by half-time.

Teesside were unable to maintain their pressure at the start of the second half and gradually Solent clawed back into it.

Defensively, the home team won the battle of the boards - Parker grabbing 11 of the rebounds and Ollie Marsh hustling to good effect.

As the game heated up both teams conceded 'unsportsmanlike' fouls, though Solent's Chris St Omer's seemed a little harsh as he fought for possession of the ball. Stars finally levelled at 61-61 in the last minute only to concede five quick points to the visitors.

The final quarter started with butter-fingered Solent giving the ball away three times and forcing coach Cunningham to take quick action.

With order restored, Capers and Parker scored regularly and the team protected possession to better effect.

A Parker basket gave Solent the lead for the first time since the first quarter, but then it changed hands three times before a big Parker three-pointer created breathing space.

A fumble by Paul Silcox with 16 seconds remaining gave Teesside, who were trailing by two points, possession of the ball. However, they turned it over and their coach Tony Hanson got a technical foul for letting his frustration spill over.

It allowed Mark Jackson to step up and seal what had, at one stage, looked an unlikely Solent victory.

Solent scorers: Marlin Capers 39, Larry Parker 27, Paul Silcox 8, Mark Jackson 6, Ollie Marsh 2, Chris St Omer 2, Phil Long 2.

SOLENT STARS 86 (20, 43, 61)

TEESSIDE MOHAWKS 81 (24, 51, 66)