Defence is the best form of attack. A re-working of a sporting maxim which is coming true for Bears so far this season.

Nick Nurse's men pride themselves on their defensive steel, or should that be steal? It was never better exemplified than last week.

Tied 43-43 late in the second quarter with Birmingham, Nick Nurse's men then went 6mins 20secs without conceding a single point.

That 19-0 run settled the contest and helped turn a routine league match into something more memorable. Bears piled up 20 steals in all, taking them to an amazing 50 in three matches so far this season.

They conceded just one field goal in 10mins 28secs as they put together a 28-3 run.

As for the sequence of unanswered points, it could have been 22 given they missed three free throws in that time.

The 19-0 was started by a Jason Siemon put-back and finished by an Andrew Alleyne basket, which was appropriate.

Siemon and Alleyne were playing for visitors Milton Keynes the last time the Triangle witnessed anything like that.

That was almost two years ago when Bears trailed 78-61, then scored the last 18 points of the contest to win the game.

Alleyne admitted he still recalled that game but was, understandably, more enthusiastic about last week's events.

He said: "We didn't play our best basketball to begin with but then we started playing more defence and rebounding and went on a run."