Nick Nurse hailed the mental strength of his title-chasing Brighton Bears after they twice stared down the barrel of defeat and survived for a weekend win double.

Bears followed Saturday's epic double overtime win at Birmingham by beating Thames Valley Tigers 84-73 in a pulsating derby at the Triangle last night which saw them trail by 11 points at one stage.

Victory was secured without the banned Rico Alderson and with Errol Seaman sidelined by a knee injury sustained early in Saturday's Birmingham clash.

How significant these four points prove remains to be seen but it was a major test of character for Nurse's men and their success eases them into second place in the British League.

Defeat for Sheffield at Chester last night means no-one can match Bears' record of just two league defeats though they have played less games than some of their rivals.

Nurse admitted: "After overtime on Saturday it was tough to come back but we produced a tremendous mental effort in the second half.

"That was as solid a 20 minutes of basketball as we have played all year.

"The ball was moving, the defence was outstanding and it's a huge win and the kind of weekend that makes a difference in the League table.

"To get two wins with six guys is a huge plus for us."

Alderson will still be out for the next test, at home to London Towers on Saturday, while Nurse fears Seaman may miss several matches.

Bears certainly struggled for defensive rebounds early in last night's tussle but recovered sufficiently to win the battle of the boards 40-32, helped by a game-high 14 from Wilbur Johnson.

Tenacious defence, with stand-in starter Emiko Etete doing his bit, also took the eye, notably when they kept Tigers down to just eight points in the third quarter.

Coach Nurse added: "It looks like Errol has stretched his knee ligament, maybe torn it a little bit, and it's going to be a while.

"We struggled at the start but we rebounded really well late on. I was impressed. Wil and Sterling (Davis) were getting above everybody on those 50-50 balls."

Tigers' early success around the hoop helped them lead 23-15 at the first interval as Michael Nurse and Greg Meldrum both hit three-pointers to cancel out seven point by Johnson at the other end.

Meldrum added a couple more threes early in the second and Barry Bowman sank one from way out but strong work by Davis and Johnson going to the Thames Valley basket kept Bears in it.

They cut the deficit from 11 to four before two costly turnovers just before half-time saw Michael Nurse complete a three-point play and Ed Williams add a steal and dunk to send Tigers in with a 43-34 lead.

Bears' response was impressive as they opened the second half with an 8-0 run to get an already noisy crowd on their feet.

Randy Duck hit eight successive home points and, when Ralph Blalock struck from outside the arc, Tigers had lost the lead for good.

Bears hit the front with two Davis three throws with 3mins 12secs to play in the third and Duck's straight three took him to 11 points in the quarter and helped forge a 56-51 lead at the last break.

The momentum was sustained in the fourth and the job was almost done when Johnson rounded off one of six Duck assists to cap a 10-2 run.

That made it 74-61 with 2 mins 37secs remaining and Bears comfortably saw out the final stages.

Coach Nurse and his men will be at work tomorrow, then return to the practice court on Boxing Day looking towards another tough double header weekend at the Triangle.

For the moment though, Christmas in the Bears camp could not be happier.

Bears: Duck 26, Johnson 20, Blalock 19, Davis 15, Brown 4.

Thames Valley: M. Nurse 21, Meldrum 17, Williams 16, Graves 11, Bowman 6, Holley 2.