Thunder 77, Mohawks 99: Neil McElduff issued an apology to Thunder's fans after the NBL Trophy dreams turned into a nightmare yesterday.

Player/coach Gary Smith and his men were comprehensively outclassed by their Conference rivals in a one-sided final at the Sheffield Arena.

Smith, who was hoping for a throwback to the glory days he enjoyed with the Worthing Bears on such big occasions, was too upset to talk after the match.

But his assistant McElduff admitted: "I'm not sure what happened out there.

"We had good practice sessions, we prepared well and had game plans but we did not deliver.

"I can't fathom it if it was nerves. We've got lots of experienced players.

"That's no excuse. We turned the ball over like crazy, it felt like we were out-rebounded although the stats say otherwise.

"They had a simple 1-3-1 defence and we seemed incapable of attacking it.

"We couldn't even make lay-ups. There was nothing positive to come from it and the measure of the boys now his how they recover.

"Everyone is down. We didn't do ourselves justice in front of a big crowd in a big arena.

"Teeside are a very good team but I thought they all had good games but I'm really sorry for our fabulous fans who came here in good numbers because I thought we let them down."

Thunder were in dire straits by the middle of the next quarter as their deficit grew to 22 points.

Coach Smith, who usually prefers to supervise from the bench, was already in the action trying to restore some order as his men missed simple shots, struggled for defensive rebounds and gave possession away too easily.

His presence improved matters but not enough. Worthing were 51-36 adrift at the half and saw a brief 6-0 flurry cancelled out by threes from Jason Swain and Dennis Ley, who between them hit six of 14 from behind the arc.

Thunder are averaging more than 100 points per game but were snuffed out by some fierce Teeside defence, though Paul Mundy-Castle kept battling away and Gaylon Moore enjoyed some success inside.

They trailed 69-52 at the final interval and the margin was in the twenties throughout the last quarter, although James Brame produced some late highlights, including two three-pointers.

Mohawks dominated in all aspects. They shot at 50 per cent from the floor and 70 from the line compared to Thunder's 41 and 55.

They also appeared to take the key rebounds and committed nowhere near as many basic errors as the Sussex side.

The only real contest was for MVP honours, which went to 30-points EJ Harrison who pipped Ralph Bucci, the game's top rebounder with 14.

Thunder's shell-shocked players could barely raise themselves from the bench at the end. Instead they watched Mohawks pose for their souvenir pictures.

After two-and-a-half years and three finals, Worthing's wait for such celebrations goes on.

Worthing Thunder scorers: Mundy-Castle 30, Hampton 16, Moore 16, Brame 9, Martin 6.

Teeside Mohawks: Harrison 29, Bucci 19, Swaine 15, Perkins 11, Butler 9, Ley 8, Nicholson 6, Knetchel 2.