Randy Duck has admitted he was embarrassed to be a part of Brighton Bears' worst defeat of the season so far.

Forget about that vaguely respectable looking final margin of defeat. Bears were outclassed and outfought by old rivals Thames Valley Tigers at their compact Bracknell home, trailing by as many as 24 points at one stage and never hinting at a comeback.

It was their third successive away defeat and no fun for players, disgruntled supporters or coach Nick Nurse, who missed the game due to family reasons and was updated by regular text messages.

Now Bears face eight days of soul searching and hard graft before the small matter of a home clash with former European champions Croatia Split Insurance next Tuesday.

Admittedly, they had one of the best players on view in Kendrick Warren, at least until it came to free throw shooting.

Warren missed eight of 13 shots from the line, largely negating his great work all around the court, particularly in driving to the basket.

In Duck, Bears also had the best competitor on court but, when he attempted to lead a comeback in the third quarter, he got very little response from those around him.

Rico Alderson played with passion but mixed the quite good with the very bad, but otherwise there was precious little put in the way of an inspired home side.

Tigers shot at 67 per cent from two point range and 47 per cent from outside, and where were Bears' big men as the hosts dominated the rebound count 45-33?

It was one of those nights when most things Tigers tried came off, but it was the lack of a response which worried Duck.

He said: "We played probably the worst game of everyone's career, to be honest. No one gave any effort like they gave a damn and that's embarrassing.

"We beat that team by close to 40 points four weeks ago, then they beat us by 12 but it was a 20-point game. That's a 60-point swing so something's not right."

In fact, Bears only beat Tigers by 24 at the Brighton Centre, but the margin could easily have been 35, just as Tigers should have won by 25 on Saturday, so the idea of a 60-point swing was about right.

Duck added: "Every game is of the utmost importance, I said that at the start of the season.

"I don't know if we have many guys believing in that right now.

"They beat us in every category. They wanted it more, they ran their offence better, they did everything better.

"That's why they laughed at us when they were playing.

"I can't remember the last time I was embarrassed on a basketball court but I was embarrassed to be out there playing the way we were playing.

"That's not any kind of reflection on how we practise or of our coach or anything that Brighton stands for."

He admitted: "I'm really let down because I thought we had a really good week.

"Then we came out there and we just let things happen like 'Oh well, it's no big deal'.

"We didn't switch right, we didn't pressure the ball, we didn't do anything that we've talked about since day one."

Bears led 22-18 after seven minutes but Tigers hit the last nine points of the first quarter, then had a 9-1 run early in the second.

Moore hit three three-pointers in the first four minutes of the game but Quintin Bailey, Josiah James and Mike New starred from then on with combined field shooting of 20-for-24.

Tony Holley enjoyed himself too, with a bizarre running jump shot among his haul.

When Duck nicked the ball off Holley as he showboated at the end, it was the only laugh Bears fans had all night.

Quarter-scores: 27-22, 31-20, 26-22, 28-36.

Tigers scorers: Bailey 22, Moore 21, New 20, Holley 17, Meldrum 15, James 11, Gottfried 4, Hearne 2.

Bears scorers: Duck 31, Warren 27, Alderson 21, Williams 6, Siemon 6, Gardiner 5, Brown 2, Phillips 2.

Top rebounders: Holley 12, Bailey 6; Warren 9, Alderson 8.

Most assists: Moore 8; Duck 5, Alderson 5.

Biggest leads: Tigers 88-64 after 30:10; Bears 10-5 after 2:18.