Skipper Gaylon Moore was doing Worthing Thunder an even bigger favour than he realised with his stirring display in the final game of last season.

Moore's never-say-die approach when his team were being hammered at Solent was so impressive it helped persuade one of his opponents to move to Worthing.

Now Nick O'Harabe is taking his game to new heights as Thunder look to bounce back from their Trophy final disappointment.

O'Harabe, the 22-year-old Londoner formerly with Teesside Mohawks, had his best game yet for Worthing in last Sunday's impressive 91-76 win at Oxford.

He took 19 rebounds, ten of them offensive, and hit 22 points on nine-of-15 shooting as Thunder overcame a 50-44 half-time deficit.

It was a great effort given they had been taken to double overtime less than 24 hours earlier, beating Reading 111-108 with O'Harabe going for 12 and eight.

The 6ft.5ins forward enjoyed his gruelling weekend and admitted he was following the lead set by his skipper.

Asked why he swapped play-off finalists Solent for re-building Thunder in the summer, he revealed: "Being able to play alongside someone like Gaylon Moore was a big thing.

"When I knew he would be back, and looking at how he played against Solent last season, I thought it would be a good move.

"Also it seemed to me Thunder are a club who are on it from the start of the season. Solent seem to leave things to the last minute and are only worried about the play-offs.

"It has taken us a while to click at Worthing but we are playing as a team now."

O'Harabe was brought up around Hackney and Islington, where Joe White was king of the courts.

As a schoolboy he recalled watching the likes of Errol Seaman, Steve Ogunjimi and current Thunder guard Marvin Addy doing their stuff.

He admitted: "Basketball kept me off the streets and out of trouble.

"Where I'm from it's pretty rough and I got away from that by playing at the youth centre.

"I was 15 when the likes of Errol Seaman were playing. I had seen Marvin and he is well known for being a London talent but I didn't really know him until I came here.

"That was when I saw what he can really do. I haven't seen anybody play defence as intensely as him."

O'Harabe's first months at Thunder were interrupted by the recurrence of a knee problem which kept him out for several games but he is now fully over that and upbeat for the rest of the season.

He said: "We have seen Teesside in the final and, if that is the best team in this league, I can't see anyone beating us if we play like we did last Sunday.

"In the Reading game we got off to a bad start and did not learn from our mistakes until late.

"On Sunday though we were better balanced and we took over the show after half-time."

Which should make a double bill with Coventry a comfortable proposition.

O'Harabe is having none of that though as he looks ahead to tonight's home game (8pm) and tomorrow's return (1pm).

He insisted: "We don't put any team down. We play every game as if it was Teesside or Plymouth."

Worthing Magic have been handed a major boost by the return of Sadie Mason, who has been sidelined by work commitments.

Magic tackle title rivals Plymouth in WNBL South as a curtain raiser to the Thunder game tonight (5.45pm).

Pick up The Argus this weekend for a Gaylon Moore Q&A.