Hotshot Steve Vear today revealed how he almost missed Worthing Thunder's big semifinal night.

Vear fired 19 points, including four key threes in the first half, as Barkers (Tarring) Thunder reached the final of the EBL division one play-offs with a 105-90 defeat of Manchester Magic.

Thunder will meet Reading Rockets at the NIA in Birmingham on Sunday.

Already two points up from the away leg, Thunder survived an early 17-0 Magic charge and chronic foul trouble for 29-point top scorer Steve Gayle to win comfortably.

Vear's outside shooting was key after Thunder, struggling to penetrate a zone defence, slipped 25-8 adrift.

He hit three threes in a fourminute spell either side of the first break and, when Pat Bates beat the buzzer with a twohanded dunk, Thunder had a 59-54 lead to take into half-time. They were never again in any real danger.

Vear, still suffering from a heavy cold, said: "I got sick about four days ago and they let me skip practice on Friday to get over it.

"I rested a lot, drank a lot of water and I was good to play.

"The good thing in this team is if I miss one shot, I'm not coming out of the game.

"They let me stay in there which gives me confidence."

With Bates and Jon Woods gradually coming into their own, 28-point Alfredo Ott producing virtuoso moments and James Brame contributing well off the bench, Thunder made good use of their offensive options.

Ott's first three-pointer put Thunder ahead with 1:52 to go in the first half and he added four more in the second.

Coach Gary Smith said: "Maybe last year you could have sat in a zone against us and we would have struggled.

"But now at any time we've got three or four shooters out there."

Gayle had 19 first-half points to get Thunder out of trouble but Smith's decison to leave him in the game when he picked up a third foul a minute from the half was baffling.

He duly picked up a fourth 40 seconds later and sat out much of the second half but the tide had turned by then.

Gayle made all 11 of his twopoint attempts while Vear played the full 40 minutes and collected eight assists and nine rebounds.

Bates (16 points, ten boards) and Woods (ten and 12) had double-doubles as Magic were outrebounded 49-42.