Towers' power too much for Tigers

Basketball

London Towers rubber-stamped their Budweiser League title with a 108- 86 victory at eighth-placed Thames Valley Tigers on Saturday night, where they will return when the best-of-three play-off quarter finals begin next weekend, writes Duncan Hooper.

Tigers, last season's league runners-up and League Trophy winners, had looked unlikely play-off contenders until a run of four straight wins was matched by six consecutive defeats for their closest rivals Newcastle Comets.

On Saturday it was nine straight points, midway through the second quarter, which gave London an unbeatable 46-29 lead and handed Tigers a taste of what awaits them in the quarter finals.

Mick Bett, the Thames Valley coach, is just glad that Tigers have extended their season by at least two more games. ''We can't really hide our hand from London because we know all about each other. It's just a case now of fine-tuning,'' he said.

The other quarter-finals pair runners-up Sheffield Sharks, who have lost both their league and National Cup titles to London, against last season's play-off winners Worthing Bears.

Birmingham Bullets and London Leopards, third and fourth, have home advantage for quarter-finals against Manchester Giants and Derby Storm respectively.