Basketball: Alleyne fresh for fight with Sharks

A fruitless midweek haul to Greece and back, and a second defeat in the ULEB Cup, is not the best preparation for the toughest BBL assignment in the Brighton Bears' fixture list.

The Bears have slipped to fourth in the BBL Championship and tonight are away to the unbeaten leaders Sheffield Sharks, where they have lost on their last 18 visits. The Sharks are sitting on a 24-game unbeaten home run and their last home defeat against the Bears was in December 1995.

The Sharks player-coach, Peter Scantlebury, said: "I'm hoping they'll be a little fatigued, but I doubt it. Their game in Greece was on Tuesday so there should be enough time to recover by tonight." One player sure to be fresh is Brighton's 6ft 8in Barbadian, Andre Alleyne. He travelled to Greece but missed the 87-76 defeat against Ionikos when the Greeks refused him entry due to a visa irregularity.

Pre-season predictions saw the championship as between the Bears and the defending champions, Sharks. Scantlebury is justified in discounting the notion after Sharks lost their overall unbeaten record in a BBL Trophy group game not against the Bears, but against Chester Jets.

"Our games with Brighton could determine how the season goes, but sides like Chester, Thames Valley and Newcastle are all dangerous," Scantlebury said. Chester and Thames Valley, second and third, look set to improve their positions this weekend as they play the two winless teams, Birmingham Bullets and Leicester Riders.

The Bullets, who visit Tigers tonight, have had a bizarre week even by their standards. Anthony Hasse was involved in a locker room bust-up with team-mates last weekend; Martin Yabsley has quit; Steve Hansell, who had quit, has now returned as short-term cover for Ivan Johnson, who broke his leg last weekend.