Basketball: Irish settles up with former team-mates

THE Guildford Kings' players called off their strike, but Worthing Bears cost them a win bonus with a 92-85 Budweiser League victory on Saturday to maintain their pursuit of the leaders, Manchester Giants.

The players agreed to play after receiving some of the money owed to them by the club's owner, Barry Dow, but they lost the game in the final 90 seconds. After Guildford regained the lead at 81-80 the Bears applied a full court press and from 85-85 they scored the game's final seven points. Colin Irish had been

uncharitable to his former club- mates all game and he delivered the coup de grace to take his total to 39 points.

Trevor Gordon's 21 points led Manchester to a 94-67 win over Doncaster Panthers, but the American guard Joe Hillman and the coach Jeff Jones added to their technical fouls as Giants became frustrated by their misfiring fast break.

Third-placed Thames Valley Tigers were 30 points ahead by the end of the third quarter and gave their bench a run in beating the bottom club Oldham Celtics 102-73.

Derby, in sixth position, won 97-95 in double overtime at Sunderland, whose leading scorer Russ Saunders has returned to America until after Christmas. Andy Gardiner scored Derby's winning points from the free-throw line 11 seconds from the end after Paul Douglas was penalised for an intentional foul.

Results, Sporting Digest, page 31