Mike Brown insists he was right to stay in England, despite losing his place in the Brighton Bears starting five.

The 29-year-old guard from New York State was one of the key contributors on Sunday as Bears clinched their first cup semi-final berth for nine years.

Coming on with Bears struggling to find any rhythm, he quickly claimed the first two of his four steals and helped keep them in touch at the end of a sorry opening quarter.

That rhythm was certainly in evidence after the turn around with Brown hitting all three of his three-point attempts and lobbing the alley-oop pass for Sterling Davis to provide the spectacular finale.

The 91-73 victory over Newcastle Eagles was not one of those occasions which provided an obvious MVP but Brown would have been a contender along with Rico Alderson had such an award been on offer for the Bears.

Early indications are that Brown could succeed former team Rodger Farrington as the unofficial best sixth man in the BBL but, in his fourth season in Sussex, he admits there are higher goals than that.

He is convinced he can at last claim his first major trophy in the British game.

Bears chief Nick Nurse admitted he was pleasantly surprised when the former Bears captain stopped looking for a European club in the summer and opted for another year at Brighton.

Brown knew he was coming back to life on the bench and his third new role in as many seasons.

He admitted: "My role has changed from starting to coming off the bench but I'm happy with it.

"We are winning and this is probably one of the best teams I have been on since I've been over in England.

"We have got loads of improvements still to do to be a championship team but that's what we are striving for.

"I'm on a team that is winning and my stats are pretty similar to what they were last year.

"I've got an opportunity to win something, whether it's one, two or three trophies."

Nurse was certainly pleased to see Brown do his bit in the cup on a night when not all the Bears stars were fully firing.

His first three-pointer, at the end of the third quarter, came from right in front of the Bears bench and the coach was first to offer a high five.

Brown revealed: "We were told at half-time that everybody needed to step up and I took it personally and started hitting shots.

"Then Rico got a steal and laid up and gave us a bit of juice. We've got guys who can do that for us.

"It's just that little spark and it starts to fire."

When that happens it can be spectacular, as the last quarter move between Brown and Davis proved.

Fans are getting accustomed to that sort of action, though usually it is Ralph Blalock guiding the ball rimwards and Randy Duck flying in to ram it home.

It is easy to imagine such ploys being honed to perfection at the end of training sessions at Falmer.

Not so, says Brown, It is all off the cuff. He said: "I've played with Sterl for two years now, which helps "In the flow of the game you just see him and throw it up by the rim and say 'there you go, get in'.

"It's not actually something we practise, it just happens in a game "When the momentum is going you seem to do it with perfect timing. Plus it gets the crowd going."

Saturday night might not be the time for such frills as Chester head south. The prospect of Bears tackling a side who won everything last season has got the whole league buzzing.

It will be one of those nights which could test the nerves of the fans and when defensive steel and experience will be crucial.

The sort of occasion, in fact, which kept Brown in Brighton.