Nick Nurse admitted Bears' title dream could be slipping away after they suffered last-gasp heartbreak last night against their Southern Conference rivals.

Bears were shot down by a London Towers side who hit an amazing 53 per cent from three-point range, led by Terrell Myers and John White.

Sterling Davis responded with another inspirational display for the hosts, who never gave up, but it was a quiet night for their own NBA hopeful Albert White, for whom announcer Paul Williams had dug out a festive Bing Crosby classic to serenade any memorable plays.

Sadly for Bears, the old crooner was pretty quiet, and the boisterous home fans were also stunned into silence as the impact of this 21st defeat in 22 meetings with the London side finally dawned.

But it could have been so different had a last-second hit-and-hope from Mike Brown on halfway dropped in rather than hitting the rim.

It was a dramatic end to a captivating battle before a near full house at the Triangle. Coach Nurse rated it one of the best games he had seen in this country.

But this time there was no fairytale finish to match the 18-0 comeback against Milton Keynes when Bears last played at their second home.

Nurse said: "We didn't deserve to win that one but we certainly deserved to win this game, so I guess it evens itself out.

"The worst part is we outplayed them in almost every facet of the game yet all those threes kept them in it.

"It's too bad. There was a point there where it was going to be about a 20-point win for us because they couldn't get a look and couldn't stop us.

"I thought John White in the third quarter saved them from getting blown out down the stretch and with him and Myers what can you do?"

He added: "This messes our title hopes up pretty good. If that last shot had gone in we would be really in the hunt.

"Towers keep getting away with stuff and I'm not sure who is going to beat them now, which means we can't slip up. It's just about theirs but we will make the best run we can at it. There's a long way to go."

It was Bears who had the spring in their step at half- time, despite trailing 40-39. Their shooting was generally awry, at one stage hitting just four points in almost six minutes, but sheer hard work and a bit of luck at the other end meant the margin only crept up to nine.

Errol Seaman made inroads with a two-pointer, followed by a huge offensive rebound to set up Randy Duck for a three, then Davis struck from the corner on the buzzer to give the hosts a massive boost as they headed for the changing rooms.

The third quarter looked like being the turning point as Bears stitched together an 11-0 run while Towers temporarily lost their touch from three-point land.

That surge featured Albert White's highlight of the evening, a no-look assist to Wilbur Johnson, plus a couple of superb coast-to coast drives from Duck as the lead reached nine points.

John White's triple helped claw it back to 62-58 at the final interval and he and Myers had brought Towers dead level with three minutes to go.

Duck's free throw was answered by two Myers' specials to make it 83-78 with 54 seconds remaining but Albert White and Davis kept their nerve from the line before tough Bears defence forced a 24-second violation.

That gave them 6.7 seconds in which to snatch a win. Possession was worked via Davis and Duck to Johnson, who was crowded out under the basket.

Brown snatched the loose ball but his potential buzzer beater from the central circle was inches too short.

Duck, a Towers hero last season, sat distraught on the floor for fully five minutes while his team-mates mulled things over in the sanctuary of the changing room.

Brown admitted he didn't even see his shot fly towards the hoop.

He said: "The best thing to do was shoot it and hope. It wasn't just down to that play.

"I thought we executed well. At times they just seemed to be saying 'Terrell, get us a bucket'. We never gave up but one play can change a game like that."

Brighton Bears scorers: Davis 33, Duck 18, Johnson 14, Brown 8, Albert White 7, Seaman 2.

London Towers scorers: Myers 27, John White 20, Eppehimer 12, Kent 10, Cheung 5, Youngblood 5, Hickey 4.