Basketball: Nottage keeps up appearances: Kings release Henlan

AFTER playing for 17 seasons and setting the individual career record for appearances, basketball still gives Ken Nottage exactly what he is looking for: 'A bloody good workout,' said the 34-year-old, who will break the record tonight playing for Sunderland Scorpions at London Towers, writes Duncan Hooper.

Nottage plays his 383rd league game in a career which began as a Crystal Palace junior and took in Embassy Milton Keynes, Guildford Pirates, Solent Stars and two spells at Sunderland.

Now Principal Officer with Sunderland Leisure Services, Nottage said: 'I do plenty to keep in shape and I love playing tennis, but basketball is the only game to give me a real work-out. For two hours you're in a diffferent world: it's a total diversion from work, from everything.

'On top of that you get the fun from playing in a game. I won't go on for much longer, but definitely until the end of this season.' By then Sunderland could be in the play-off quarter-finals.

Sunderland, who won only six League games last season, snatched their sixth victory of this season on Thursday night with a 97-87 win at Derby, by outscoring the Bucks 31-9 in the fourth quarter and 11-1 over the final two minutes.

Guildford Kings, beaten 80-73 by Limoges, of France, in the European Clubs' Championship on Wednesday, have released Martin Henlan, their 6ft 10in England and Great Britain centre, for an ankle operation.

He will miss the games against Leverkusen, who won 90-64 in Barcelona on Thursday, Barcelona and Real Madrid.