Errol Seaman is battling against the clock to grab a bit of the limelight at Brighton Bears.

Not that the powerfully-built Londoner is coming to the end of a sporting career which has earned him trophies in junior and senior ranks. At 25, there is plenty of time to go back to Wembley.

It's just that court time can be limited for the 6ft 4ins forward from the East End, not least in a team of talented imports such as the present day Bears.

Seaman is averaging 12 minutes per game in the Championship, not half as much as he would like but enough to transmit his fierce determination to the rest of the team and their fans.

The former Manchester Giant said: "I play with a lot of emotion. That's what got me to this level.

"I know I can show a lot more than I have been but it's hard in this sort of team where I play a complementary role as opposed to being one of the main guys.

"I have to do the job the coach wants me to do which is playing tough D, getting a lot of the garbage rebounds, and I've got to pick up my points elsewhere.

"I'm going to be the fifth option on the floor most of the time with the talent we've got.

"Sometimes you need to be in the flow of the game to get your feet wet but I'm enjoying it right now."

Seaman is convinced both he and point guard Mark Jackson could do a decent job as starters. That will be music to the ears of coach Nick Nurse, who needs all the manpower he can get, especially on those tough double-header weekends which have been Bears' downfall.

Seaman is a favourite with fans, many of whom will recall key contributions in the closing stages of last season's wins over Manchester and Sheffield at the Brighton Centre.

There was also that amazing night when he piled up 21 points, 11 rebounds and eight steals against Chester, albeit in defeat.

Seaman spent four years studying in the deep south, Alabama and Georgia, and has a biology and chemistry degree which he hopes will get him a teaching job when the time comes.

Basketball can be a precarious profession but he said: "I'm never in fear of not getting a job. It's whether I can get a job that pays me the money I want to be paid.

"We had a down year last year and my stats weren't the greatest so I didn't have that many teams coming to me in the summer.

"Manchester started talking and I could have had a look abroad but I didn't really want to do that.

"I trained with Towers and had four pre-season games and did well but I got messed around a bit. Nick talked to me when he got the Brighton job and said he wanted me down here and I said 'great'.

"It's good when someone wants you and knows what you can do on the court."

Seaman was glad to be back. He was brought up in West Ham territory, though that didn't stop him bucking the local trend and supporting Liverpool.

These days the quiet life of Lewes and the nearby buzz of Brighton suit him down to the ground but he looks back fondly on big city life.

In Manchester, he helped Giants to the Northern Conference, the Championship and two cup finals.

Before that, as a 15-year-old, he took up basketball at the suggestion of former London Docklands and Towers player Patrick Jones, who is now his brother-in-law.

Seaman said: "I had played goalkeeper and a bit of cricket but basketball was the first time I had been in a real team. I was fortunate at junior level. We won back-to-back championships and a few cups. I didn't win anything at Towers but we had a great team at Manchester."

Seaman's coach in the juniors was current Newcastle chief Tony Garbelotto so he will no doubt remind him about old times when Bears head north next month.

If that reminder comes in the form of a fistful of points, all the better.