SOLENT Stars are not standing idle despite a weekend breather from competitive basketball.

They will be using the break to play behind-closed-doors matches against local opposition, giving them a chance to work team-plays and assimilate new arrivals Gareth Keene and Martin Dowdall into the squad.

After a meeting with player-coach Mark Scott, the club have sent an SOS to their network of local contacts to help unearth more players who can cope with the rigours of the National Basketball League Conference.

Struggling Solent have triumphed just once in seven league and cup outings this season and, among other things, are desperate to find what Scott describes as: "An animal on the boards."

Following the demise of the Bournemouth Blitz, Portsmouth Pirates and Southampton Trailblazers senior men's teams, Stars stand alone as a National League presence along this stretch of the South Coast and believe it will benefit the entire basketball community if they escape their present predicament.

"So far we have not done as well as we would have liked to on court," Solent admit.

"As a club we are conscious of the need to keep the profile of basketball in the public eye whilst hoping that Southampton, Bournemouth and Portsmouth are able to regroup and have a presence on the national scene in the coming seasons. To achieve that it is important we have some modicum of success this year."

Stars are out of action until next Saturday when they visit Plymouth Raiders in their final National Trophy Pool B game. Said Scott: "This break in fixtures could be a blessing. It gives us a chance to dust ourselves off and address the areas of our game where we have flopped."