SOLENT STARS 95 (19, 41, 69) LONDON UNITED 100 (22, 51, 78)

Solent slipped to defeat in a frantic last few minutes of this away leg of their National Trophy tie at Brunel University.

With just four minutes of the game remaining, Solent levelled the scores at 87-all. But they then lost a bit of discipline as they fell seven points behind.

Within a minute, however, Solent once again trailed by just two points (92-94) with both Matt Crawford and Duane Laight missing important free throws.

Trailing by two points, Solent needed a successful three-point shot to level the scores, but Mark Story - marked by two defenders - attempted to pass the ball off to Laight and it was stolen by the London team.

A desperate foul by Solent sent London to the line for two free throws - both missed. But Solent then failed to put the ball in successfully as London gratefully accepted their final two points of the game.

Solent had got off to a splendid start. After an opening three-pointer by Story, it was fellow-American Crawford who scored the next seven points for Solent.

Another three-pointer for Story opened a five-point gap in Solent's favour (13-8) by the fifth minute.

A series of successful three-point shots from London United soon tipped the balance to put the home side ahead by the eight minute and, despite a late score by Mark Jackson, Solent trailed by three points at the first interval.

London opened up an eight-point lead early in the second quarter and Solent were soon thrown into more trouble when captain Jackson had to leave the game with a leg injury.

Alan Mcdonald, Anthony Rutter and Laight shared the reponsibility in Jackson's absence for the rest of the game.

London were eventually brought back to just a two-point lead (35-37) before a late rush of baskets by the home team took them to a ten-point half-time lead.

With Solent coach Mark Scott showing an unusual amount of sideline animation, Solent plugged away gamely in the third quarter.

At first the scoring was done by Story and Crawford, who shared 18 points between them and then Nick Oharabe began to have some shooting success as a lively period for Solent saw them shade the quarter 28-27.

Having gained encouragement in the third period, Solent became even more enterprising and showed a spirit not seen so far in the season.

But they lost out in those hectic final minutes.

SCORERS: Matt Story 38 Matt Crawford 28 Duane Laight 12 Nick Oharabe 11 Mark Jackson 4 Alan McDonald 2.

SOLENT STARS 84 (23, 39, 61) WORTHING THUNDER 105 (26, 48, 77)

In stark contrast to last week's high scoring start, both teams found it difficult to put points on the board in this National Trophy match at Fleming Park.

But there were several personal man-to-man marking duels to entertain the crowd.

Matt Story, in particular, was finding it hard to shake off his marker, Danny Hildreth, and it was left to fellow American Matt Crawford - making his debut home appearance - to score Solent's opening five points.

Worthing briefly opened up a five-point gap in the fourth minute but Solent hit back to take a similar lead by the ninth minute. Then two late three-pointers from Worthing, including one from David Butterworth playing against his old club, gave Worthing a narrow lead at the first interval.

After trading early baskets and again going into a slender one-point lead, Solent seemed to run out of ideas. It led to a series of speculative often unsuccessful shots that were usually rebounded by the visiting team who then used possession better. Four minutes without a score saw Solent trail 29-37.

The 6 foot 10 inch Crawford was being used sparingly, having picked up his third foul in the first quarter.

Coach Mark Scott called a seventh-minute time-out and switched to a zone defence which had the effect of stopping the steady supply of Worthing scores.

Trailing by seven points, Chris Glover missed two free throws and, with Butterworth again scoring a last-second three-pointer, Solent had a mountain to climb.

Hopes were raised at the start of the second half when Solent outscored Worthing 14-5 in the opening five minutes. Mark Jackson gave a captain's lead by weighing in with seven of the points, supported by Crawford (4) and Story (3).

But Worthing - demonstrating that they had far more strength in depth than the home team - scored the next 12 points in two minutes to effectively kill off the game.

Nick OHarabe's frustration, after a disappointing personal performance, boiled over and he left the game in the eighth minute of the quarter on five fouls.

Matt Story's two three-pointers and two points from Chris Glover were Solent's only scores in the final five minutes of the quarter.

When Crawford fouled out in the third minute, the game was up for Solent who now had no height to counteract the Worthing attack which enjoyed a spell of penetrating the defence almost at will, although Solent never gave up the chase.

Solent's players and coach must look to their preparation for this game to ask how the visitors were able to win so easily after last week's close encounter at Worthing. Scorers:

SOLENT: Matt Story 28, Mark Jackson 16, Matt Crawford 14, Nick OHarabe 7, Duane Laight 6, Chris Glover 5, Anthony Rutter 5, Tom Parker 2.

WORTHING: Jamal Johnson 28, Steven Gayle 22, David Butterworth 22, Gaylon Moore 18, Marvin Addy 5, James Brame 3, Sam Mead 2, Ukole Ugbana 2, Damien Harris 2.

Attendance: 327.