Headline-grabbing Rico Alderson made a dramatic return from his three-game ban to spare his Brighton Bears a second night of heartbreak yesterday.

The irrepressible forward grabbed centre stage as The Triangle hosted its second heart-stopping finale of a key British League weekend.

Having tasted overtime defeat for the first time since coach Nick Nurse took charge on the south coast in Saturday's epic 92-88 reverse to London Towers, Bears had to dig deep for a 76-71 success over battling Birmingham Bullets yesterday.

It was a close run thing. They dragged themselves level at 69-69 going into the last two minutes before Alderson brought the house down with a huge dunk to force them ahead, then added a free throw to restore the lead for good at 72-71 with 33 seconds remaining.

Kyle Rolston went to the line to possibly win it for Bullets with 18 seconds to go but missed both shots, with Alderson grabbing the loose ball for his game-high 13th rebound.

Ralph Blalock then capped his 52-point weekend with four free throws in the last five seconds of playing time after Birmingham coach Tony Garbelotto had carried his arguments too far and been sent from the gym.

Garbelotto ran on to court to argue with officials though he was also infuriated that his own team had not carried out orders to give away a foul earlier and stop the clock.

It was not the highest quality contest you will see, with Bears hitting just three of 20 three-point attempts, all by Blalock in the first quarter. Alderson in particular chased his losses and finished nought-for-seven.

They also lost the rebound count 54-43 but the result was all that mattered as Nurse attempted to get the best out of his injury-hit squad.

Errol Seaman remains on the sidelines with a knee problem and Alderson's return was counter balanced by a groin injury to skipper Randy Duck, who played just 12 minutes last night.

Nurse said: "Missing games has hurt Rico but that dunk was a big time play and he hit the free throw which kept the pressure on them.

"It's really hard right now. There's no rhythm, it's all seat of the pants coaching. I turn up and I don't have any idea who is available. Then we get in foul trouble and forward thinking doesn't come into it.

"That said we were probably a whisker away from winning twice this weekend. You work hard and hope it bounces your way and it did this time.

"I've got to think about whether we get Randy ready for the cup final and not worry about our game at Towers next week. I'm going to give them three days off this week and that should get them bouncing back."

Nurse admitted the Towers defeat was a missed opportunity, adding: "We got up eight or nine but I hate when we give it right back like that.

"I thought we would get away from them but we let them hang around, we let Terrell Myers take shots at the end and you are always going to be in trouble when you do that."

Another thriller looked unlikely last night as Bears raced 10-1 clear inside two minutes, but that was their biggest lead of the contest.

Predictably, it was Alderson who grabbed the first points of the evening but Blalock stole the limelight with 13 as his side took the quarter 25-21.

Bullets forced their way into a one-point lead in the second period but Bears responded with eight unanswered points, including four and a key steal from Alderson, whose subsequent gift to Rolston saw the visitors trail just 40-36 at the half.

The third quarter was desperately scrappy and finished with the sides level at 53-53.

Bears went more than four minutes without a field goal and, though Sterling Davis somehow forced his side into a 53-50 lead when double-teamed on the 24 second buzzer, Rolston levelled the scores from the line to set up another cliffhanger.

Davis added 12 points in the fourth quarter and Mike Brown's defensive qualities were also evident but Bears still had to claw back a four-point deficit when the impressive Rolston unleashed a three with four minutes to play.

Bears: Davis 26, Blalock 22, Alderson 17, Brown 5, Johnson 4, Etete 2.

irmingham Bullets: Rolston 20, Jackson 20, Baah 8, Henlan 8, Griffin 6, Phillips 6, Windle 3.