Basketball: Bears to ride out Duck injury

The Newcastle Eagles and Birmingham Bullets are lining up signings ahead of Monday's transfer deadline, but the Brighton Bears seem likely to ride out the injury which could rule out their playmaker Randy Duck for up to a month.

The Newcastle Eagles and Birmingham Bullets are lining up signings ahead of Monday's transfer deadline, but the Brighton Bears seem likely to ride out the injury which could rule out their playmaker Randy Duck for up to a month.

Brighton feared Duck would miss the rest of the season after straining his groin at the end of a 49-point performance in the ULEB Cup win over Cholet on Tuesday, but the injury is now thought to be less serious.

Duck will spend his recuperation running the game from the bench as stand-in for the "exhausted" coach Nick Nurse, who is taking a month out.

Birmingham, with one win all season, may be bringing the former Bullets junior Stephen Barnes back to the club after the 6ft 8in forward was released by the Finnish club Componenta.

The Bullets beleaguered coach Steve Tucker, not content with having two former Harlem Globetrotters on his roster, says next season he hopes to sign the 6ft11in Nigerian Gitonga Mainga, who starred in the film The Air Up There with Kevin Bacon.

The Newcastle coach Fab Flournoy recently axed the under-performing 6ft8in American Mo Robinson and may replace him with the 6ft9in Abdul Cisse. Flournoy must do without playmaker TJ Walker, who suffered a double ankle fracture last week and could be out for up to six weeks. The Eagles are likely to qualify for the play-off quarter-finals without him so it seems unlikely Flournoy will be looking for a replacement.