SOLENT STARS 98 (13, 48, 81) - PLYMOUTH RAIDERS 106 (23, 56, 79)

A dreadful first four minutes by Stars let Plymouth Raiders take a 10-3 lead in this English League Division 1 game at Fleming Park.

Lay-up shots were missed by Chris Glover, Matt Crawford and Nick Oharabe and Solent's only scoring effort was a three-pointer by Mark Jackson. Crawford added another three-pointer a few minutes later but more poor shots allowed Plymouth an 11-point lead. Solent's usual main scorer, Matt Story, was unable to hit the target while OHarabe picked up his third personal foul in the ninth minute.

Drew Sewell, playing his first game for some seasons, showed nice touches early on and contributed a couple of baskets. But three consecutive three-pointers by the visitors saw them into a commanding 14-point lead before a late flurry of points from Mark Jackson (2) and Matt Crawford (4) helped Solent rein it in to just eight.

Story came out like a man possessed in the second half. He scored Solent's opening 11 points and his spectacular round-the-back pass for fellow American Crawford to score with a slam dunk, brought Solent level at 66-all. Solent outscored Plymouth 13-0 over two minutes to take a six-point lead.

But Plymouth regrouped and were able to slow the rate of Solent scoring while upping their own to come back to a two-point difference at the end of the third quarter.

Coach Steve Fitzsimons was forced to use all his time-outs in the final period as the team tired. With Duane Laight and Drew Sewell not having played at this level for some time and Chris Glover back from injury, his options for substitutions were limited. Solent gradually fell behind but were offered a ray of hope when Plymouth's American, Terrence Durham, fouled out but they could not take advantage and the high-riding Plymouth team - with only one league defeat - who were able to finish more strongly despite a late couple of scores by Crawford and Story.

SOLENT: Matt Story 37 Mark Jackson 22 Matt Crawford 20 Nick OHarabe 8 Drew Sewell 6 Duane Laight 5

PLYMOUTH: Gavin Love 42 Terrence Durham 23 DeAntoine Beasley 19 Myron Riley 10 Dean Williams 6 Deng Deng 4 Mark Cahill 2

Attendance 287

Women's Basketball:

Solent Stars maintained their 100 per cent record in the Women's National Basketball League Division 2 South with a 58-43 win at Taunton Tigers. But it was a far from perfect performance, with Stars looking rusty after the Christmas break against a fighting Taunton side.

Stars coach Michael Ball confessed: "I felt we were off the pace today. Our starters only really fired in patches and I expect the entire team to play with far more defensive intensity next week against Southend.

"A real positive was the return of Lynne Powell as an offensive threat. She played really smart and when she finds space she is such a great perimeter shooter she will hurt anybody. Also, Christie Rourke is continuing to display more composure."

Taunton started confidently to lead 4-2 before Powell responded with three baskets in a row, pushing the side towards a 17-9 first-quarter lead.

Rourke continued to add points on the fast break and executed a great jump shot and by half-time Stars were 33-16 ahead.

Most of Taunton's points had come from outside shooting, but Stars toughened their defence after the break to go on a 13-3 run, stifling their opponents into poor shots and frequent turnovers.

Solent scorers: Powell 14, Syngellakis 10, Rourke 8, Wiseman 7, Willmore 5, Brownsell 5, Jerram 4, Ball 2, Jones 2, Hield 1.