They were the toughest team of their time. The fought for every ball, grabbed rebounds at will and never knew when they were beaten.

It could be the Brighton Bears team who tonight round off their BBL title-winning campaign against second-placed Sheffield Sharks at the Brighton Centre (7pm).

Instead, the description applies to the all-conquering Worthing Bears of the Nineties and comes from the man who led them, Alan Cunningham.

Cunningham, now based in Southampton, is one of the Bears legends who will be honoured at a banner-raising ceremony at tonight's game.

Steve Nelson, Colin Irish and Billy Hungrecker will be similarly honoured, along with the current team.

Irish now lives in Ohio but the other three stars of yesteryear will be there for a ceremony which links the Sussex club's two golden eras.

Bears chief Nick Nurse said: "These guys put their heart and soul into the club and are part of our tradition.

"People should come to games and see something hanging in the arena that shows these guys were great players."

Cunningham was the multi-skilled former Harlem Globetrotter who had spells with both Brighton and Worthing Bears.

He was player/coach of the Worthing team which won the league and play-offs in 1994 and went on to complete a play-off hat-trick.

Irish and Nelson were key men in that team, with Nelson later going on to have a spell as coach. Hungrecker also played and coached Bears, his era including the play-off and title double in the second tier of the English game in 1988.

Different teams from different times but, according to Cunningham, with the same recipe for success.

He said: "We were a big team and we rebounded well. The best teams always do.

"The guys were never-say-die. People said we were too old or too slow but we said 'That's fine, that's all we need to hear'.

"We would be down by ten with a minute-and-a-half to go. Then I'd call timeout and say 'We've got them right where we want them' and everyone believed me.

"I could get the ball to Colin or Steve or Cleave Lewis and get the outside shot we needed.

"We could dump it in to Kalpatrick Wells who would get a slam and take two or three guys with him and Herman Harried would get a key block.

"We played the game rough and tough but basketball has never been a game for cissies."

Cunningham used to whip the crowd into a frenzy by running along the front rows slapping hands with fans before tip-off.

He said: "Worthing was a great time in my career. That was really my team, along with Neil McElduff. We put that team together.

"The fans were great too. I got to know them as personal friends and that helped us win things. I miss the winning but I really miss the after-game with the fans as well."

Hungrecker is on record as saying the current Bears team is the best to have ever played on the south coast.

That is praise indeed coming from the guard who once fired 73 points in a play-off game with Plymouth.

Hungrecker's first season was Bears' first in Worthing, in 1984/85, and he remembers coming up against a star rookie in Irish.

He said: "We played against Manchester United in the semi-finals of the play-offs at Wembley. The game came down to the last 30 seconds and Colin stole the ball.

"He was going for a lay-up and I grabbed him. He threw the ball up and it went in, then he got the free throw as well. I'll never forget that."

Like Irish, Hungrecker was a devastating three-point shooter but he thought the pro game had passed him by.

He said: "I was working in a factory in New Jersey. All of a sudden they brought in the three-point line and my eyes lit up. I wanted them to bring in a four-point line as well."

Hungrecker would take Kendrick Warren if he could sign any current Bears star for his old team while Nelson would opt for Yorick Williams.

Nelson, the ultimate team man when Irish and Cunningham hogged the headlines, said: "The record books speak for themselves. We were the most successful team, more successful than the Kingston team.

"I love watching Yorick play. He's got an all-round game and his defence is fantastic but he would be in competition with me for playing time."

That would be quite a prospect. As would Randy Duck firing passes to Irish or Cunningham and Rico Alderson stirring things up.

Truly a dream team for a night of Bears celebration.