Shellshocked Brighton Bears as a title-chasing force after their nosediving season ended in humiliation.

Bears' alarming decline over the last two-and-a-half months culminated in a nightmare first-quarter which ended their play-off hopes.

They were 30-4 down and virtually out after ten minutes in which they had no answer to Sheffield's combination of deadly three-point shooting, steely man-to-man defence and rebounding way above the figures they produced in the regular league season.

If the contest was not over by then, it certainly was when Bears went into half-time 37 points adrift.

They rescued a bit of pride in the second half but coach Nurse admits he faces a challenge to re-build a team who ended the season ravaged by injuries and personnel problems and suffering a confidence crisis.

He also gave possibly his strongest hint yet at how close the club were to folding at the start of a season which, it should not be forgotten, brought as much silverware as any of the previous campaigns under Nurse's command.

The Bears chief said: "Let's put it in perspective. It's no secret we've had problems.

"We are still here and we've got some exciting things happening in the off-season.

"Just to have this team still going is like winning every game by 30 points and collecting all four trophies. It's that big.

"I will re-tool this team. We will have some players in here and we will be title contenders next year."

Re-building is needed. Over the last few weeks Bears have been the worst team in the league, Birmingham excepted.

Since their 19-point win at would-be champions Chester on February 20, they have lost to every team in the league apart from the rock-bottom Bullets.

Some of those defeats have been heavy but none as comprehensive as Saturday's.

From 8-4 up early on, Sheffield piled up 22-0 unanswered points in six minutes.

Nurse lost his patience when Sharks, statistically the worst rebounding team in the BBL, claimed two successive offensive boards and set-up Iain McKinney for a wide open three-pointer.

He called time-out, pushed advertising boards out of his way and drew gasps and chuckles from home fans for the way he tore into his team.

There was no obvious improvement. Nurse admitted: "I said at half-time 'I never in my life have sat in a locker room down by 37 points so I don't think you can win'.

"But I thought we owed it to ourselves not to finish on a complete sour note and at least we did that."

Nurse declined to comment on whether he had learnt some harsh truths about his men in their first really important game for weeks.

The Bears players who trudged away from Ponds Forge have talent, work hard and have remained committed to the cause.

They were left to make the best of a bad situation which was no fault of their own.

Some, though, failed to produce when it really mattered, others were required to do too much because of personnel problems.

Tony Holley and Joe Perera, the only Bears to emerge with any credit from Saturday, fit into the second category.

Holley has been a BBL star for years and should now be coming on for key minutes to do a specific defensive job or chip in with a couple of jump shots. A bit like the role veteran champion Robert Horry was recruited for by San Antonio.

At Sheffield, he found himself cast as Tim Duncan, trying to carry the team.

The old fadeaway jumper was in good order and he finished with a double-double but it was never going to be enough. Bears only fleetingly got arrears below 30 in the second half. In the end, the final buzzer was merciful release.

Now the hard work really starts. The BBL has been laughing at Bears for two months now.

That is too long for a proud coach to put up with.

Play-off results: Newcastle Eagles 105 Thames Valley Tigers 72, London Towers 63 Scottish Rocks 65, Chester Jets 81 Milton Keynes Lions 71.