Solent Stars 92 - Worthing Thunder 87

THE name's Jackson, Howard Jackson, and he could be just the man to salvage Solent Stars' season.

The 6ft 4in American arrived on the south coast from Ireland on Friday night.

Twenty four hours later, Jacko was strutting his stuff with some panache, inspiring Stars to a last-gasp 92-87 win over the heavily-fancied Worthing Thunder in the NBL Conference.

Jackson, who celebrated his 27th birthday last Wednesday and hails from Oakdale, Louisiana, weighed in with a team-high 28 points at the Fleming Park Leisure Centre in Eastleigh, but more importantly provided the much-needed skill, guile and streetcraft which has been missing from Stars this season.

"It was great to win and a great start for us," said Jackson afterwards. "I only flew in on Friday so I didn't know if I would start, I just wanted to do my best.

"If the basketball here is always like this, then I'm going to have some fun."

Jackson, who has been playing Irish Professional League basketball with the Dublin-based Killester side this season, didn't enter the fray until three and a half minutes left of the first quarter, with a subdued Solent trailing 23-11.

The shaven-headed American bagged a swift two pointer, and then weighed in with a spectacular slam dunk from Mark Jackson's pass.

Suddenly, the intensity of Solent's play stepped up a notch or two. With captain Mark Jackson directing traffic, Howard Jackson was feeling his way with the plays, but linking up well with fellow American, Dominique Jones.

Howard Jackson scrapped for the ball on the floor. He wasn't afraid to put his body on the line with charging drives for the basket, and the Worthing defence seemed unable to read his inside moves.

By half-time, the Sussex visitors led 52-40, but the opening salvos of the third quarter changed the shape of the match.

"Those first four minutes of each quarter are so important and that's when a team can make a difference," said Jackson. "It's when you can dictate the game."

That's just what Solent did, steadily eroding the lead and when Alan McDonald bagged a two-pointer falling backwards five minutes into the third quarter, parity was reached at 53-53.

Suddenly Solent were playing as a team. Vingoe, all aggression and pace, was having a blinder, Jones was picking off the baskets from range, and Alan McDonald and Chris Glover were beavering away, supported by the ever steady Mark Jackson.

As for Howard Jackson, on offensive and defensive boards, he was causing Worthing all sorts of problems.

A swift break, a swivel and a neat lay-up from the former Lincoln Memorial University player provided two points to end the third quarter level at 72-72.

The fourth was a scrap, but Solent were equal to the task.

Worthing had the stronger strength in depth on court and on the bench, but there was only one team who had the belief they were going to win.

Trevor Donaldson's three-pointer early in the fourth quarter earned Solent the lead for the first time. Worthing pegged it back as the hosts missed shots and failed to take their chances to shut the door on the visitors.

With 90 seconds left, Vingoe, a student at Chichester University, countered with a swift break, spun a Worthing defender inside out and gifted Howard Jackson two points, also drawing the foul and the extra point - 86-85.

Back came Worthing, and there was Jackson with an outstanding defensive block under his own boards. Vingoe then took possession and the 6ft 5in forward claimed the two with 49 seconds left - 88-85.

Rani Malik pulled two points back for Worthing, but Jackson was the man of the moment, landing a crucial two points for 90-87 with 18 seconds left.

Worthing needed three points to send the match into overtime, they looked for the opening but Solent's defence held firm.

Solent gained a rebound and sent the ball up court and there was McDonald to nail the two points right on the buzzer, and the team were delirious.

"What a great Christmas present," said coach Mark Scott afterwards. "To win like that is a big weight off our shoulders.

"To have players like Howard Jackson is good for this team. He leads by example."

Solent Stars: Howard Jackson 28, Dominique Jones 19, Mark Vingoe 14, Mark Jackson 11, Alan McDonald 8, Chris Clover 4, Trevor Donaldson 3, Adam Willis 2, Anthony Rutter 1.