Comets off the bottom

Basketball

DUNCAN HOOPER

Newcastle Comets climbed off the bottom of the Budweiser League with a 106-96 victory last night at Thames Valley Tigers, last season's runners- up. The win, Newcastle's best of the season, came 24 hours after they wasted a five-point lead in the final 50 seconds to lose 82-79 at home to London Leopards.

Tigers, who ended a three-game losing run with a 93-80 win at Leicester on Saturday, held Newcastle's leading scorer, Russ Saunders, to just eight points in the first three quarters last night and led 81-79. but he scored eight points at the start of the fourth quarter. He finished with 21 points, supporting 23 from Paul Bale and 24 from Scott Paterson.

Newcastle had looked to be in control against the Leopards on Saturday until a pair of successive three-pointers from Karl Brown snatched the initiative.

Sheffield Sharks beat Manchester Giants 77-67 at Ponds Forge last night to win their 7-Up Trophy quarter-final 158-145 on aggregate.