Now there can surely be no doubt: Sussex basketball fans have a potential title-winning team on their hands.

Bears saw off the southern conference leaders in commanding fashion before an ecstatic crowd of about 3,000 at the Brighton Centre.

They led by as many as 22 points at one stage in a display built on the tenacious defence which is becoming their trademark and crowned by fabulous attacking work, with Albert White and Sterling Davis again stealing the show.

Both men finished the afternoon with awards. Davis picked up the BBL player-of-the-month prize before tip-off, then helped himself to 24 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

He might easily have been named the game's MVP. Instead, White took that accolade after finishing top scorer with 32 points, plus eight boards and four assists.

Those two produced most of the moments which fans watching live on Meridian television will want to rewind and replay.

Now coach and general manager Nick Nurse believes the sky could be the limit for a club who have spent too long in the doldrums in recent years.

Nurse's novel dual role means he spends more time with his lap top than in his training top these days.

But it's the action out on court which gives him the real buzz.

He said: "We dominated the game from the start virtually to the end. They made one little run that was a bit of a scare but we answered it right away and took the lead back to double figures.

"It was an impressive defensive performance by our team.

"These guys play D so they can get out and run. You jarr balls loose and go into attack mode and show what you've got at the end of it."

Bears have come a long way since Tigers thrashed them by 21 points amid near silence in Burgess Hill at the end of September.

The fans are in great voice these days. Bears top up an already healthily-sized support by bringing in new fans with tickets subsidised by sponsorship deals.

Many of the youngsters asking players to sign souvenir copies of the Sports Argus yesterday will surely be hooked on the sport.

It helps that Brighton are arguably the third best team in the country at the moment, behind Chester and, maddeningly for Nurse, his old side London Towers.

Nurse, a medal winner with Birmingham, Manchester and Towers before coming south, said: "I've coached a lot of good teams in this league and this team has go to be close to being the best.

"The one team I had in Manchester that went to all four finals and won two of them was pretty special. Other that that though, this team's up there."

Not least those two star imports. White has set his sights on the NBA while a likely destination for the consistent Davis could be one of the big European leagues.

Performances like this will do them no harm, particularly in front of the cameras.

Davis dominated the first quarter and hit 12 points as Bears opened a 21-13 lead.

His haul included three huge dunks, off assists by Errol Seaman, twice, and White.

That renowned defence was also in evidence. White's set-up for his sidekick came after the ball had been stripped away from Shawn Jamison.

Dogged work then forced a 24-second violation from the normally shot-happy Tigers, though the next time they were in such trouble Barry Bowman rescued them with the only three-pointer of the quarter.

Tigers had two 6-0 runs in the second period but four quick points from Wilbur Johnson and White's three-pointer steadied Bears.

Mike Brown's rare turnover allowed Greg Meldrum to strike from outside the arc but he made almost immediate amends with a steal which set up Randy Duck to put Davis in for a jam.

Davis went even better with a shot from inside his own half which hit nothing but net. The officials ruled it had come a split second after the final buzzer, but Bears still had a handy 42-34 cushion at half-time.

The hosts' offensive production dipped in an untidy third period and Tigers cut arrears from 13 to four to temporarily set alarm bell ringing.

Bears' three-point shooting bailed them out. Duck (2), White and Brown all slotted from long range and, when Johnson ended the period with a tip-in, Bears had pushed the lead back out to 65-54 as well as allowing their key players recuperation time on the bench.

Then it was into the home straight. Davis converted a no-look assist from Duck, who later joined the slam dunk club after another Brown steal.

White though really brought the house down with a couple of jams, the first coming after a rebound and behind-the-back dribble, the second from his own steal.

Bears were 86-64 up with three minutes to go and had the luxury of using their bench and allowing Tigers a closing 15-2 run.

White's score was his highest yet in a home match. He said: "We took our defence to another level and we were able to get a comfortable lead.

"Teams are going to start respecting us after this. That's what we want but at the same time we have still got to push ourselves and go to that extra high."

What heights they can scale remains to be seen. They head to Newcastle and Edinburgh next weekend before returning to the Triangle on December 30 for a showdown with Towers.

What a momentous afternoon that could prove to be for Nurse and his men.

Bears: White 32, Davis 24, Duck 14, Johnson 13, Brown 5.

Tigers: Jamison 25, Meldrum 15, Bowman 15, Burks 13, Davies 4, Martin 4, Robinson 3.