Basketball: Tigers maul Sharks

Thames Valley Tigers knocked a hole in Sheffield Sharks' defence of their Budweiser League title with a 77-69 win at Bracknell on Saturday night, but have lost out in the chase to sign the 6ft 9in England international, Trevor Gordon.

Gordon, who has not played for Manchester Giants since the escalation of a pre-season dispute, is set to join Derby Storm, one of his former clubs, after also listening to offers from the Tigers and Birmingham Bullets.

He said: "Derby have a new organisation and are building a new arena and I have friends and family in the area. They need a big player and that's my job. I just want to get back to playing as soon as possible."

Tigers also need a big player despite their victory against Sheffield, whom they caught on the rebound from their European Clubs Championship second round first leg defeat against Real Madrid.

Thames Valley's coach, Mick Bett, said: "We played with a lot of aggression and intensity and showed what we could achieve with an extra player giving us a scoring threat inside." Tony Holley, who has shouldered the big man role since Neville Austin's move to London, led their scorers with 18 points.

BUDWEISER LEAGUE: Thames Valley 77 Sheffield 69; Doncaster 84 Worthing 79; Leopards 77 London Towers 91; Birmingham 122 Newcastle 120 o/t.

7-UP TROPHY: Newcastle 74 Doncaster 84; Derby 97 Chester 86; Chester 87 Leicester 86.