Richard Midgley hit a game clinching basket and went top of the Pac 10 standings for three-point shooters.

But the freshman guard from Burgess Hill shared disappointment with his California team as they suffered a 76-75 defeat at UCLA.

Prior to that reverse, Cal had beaten Washington 58-53 with Midgley including two key threes in his 15 points.

He put Cal ahead for good with just 1:39 to play, taking him to 46.7 per cent behind the arc.

Asked about the 19-year-old Sussex boy, Washington coach Lorenzo Romar said. "He plays like he is 24. They better check his birth certificate. He is very poised, very mature."

Danny Midgley gets the chance to secure a home play-off berth with UMM Clippers this weekend but the message from his coach is: "We don't care where we play."

Clippers, based at Machias in Maine, needed two wins from three games to secure a home quarter-final in the Sunrise Conference They are at home this weekend to Lyndon State from Vermont and second-placed Fisher from Boston.

Coach Matt Lash said: "We had a slow start but the way we are playing now I don't think anyone wants to play us home or away.

"Danny has had injuries but he has worked that out and is coming back around.

"He has worked extremely hard to improve his body strength and we have improved his game off the dribble.

"We use him as a three man but we have also needed him to play some post and he has added a couple of post moves to his game.

"He goes to the rim hard and he had a couple of and-ones last week.

"He can be really hard on himself but he has overcome a lot of mental challenges."

Clippers' most recent win was over Corby College, one of the top Division Three teams from the north east, when the former Brighton Bear, 21, shot three of three from the field.

Lash added: "He played against Micheal Westbrook from Ireland which he seemed to enjoy. He had a nice baseline move on this kid and really took it to him early."