Nick Nurse is demanding his Brighton Bears hit top gear tonight to keep their flickering title hopes alive.

Bears visit in-form Milton Keynes Lions (7.30pm) needing victory to ensure their bid to take the BBL southern conference crown off London Towers goes into the final weekend of the season.

Lions too require the points as they aim for the play-offs and, if possible, third spot to ensure an easier first round tie.

Nurse's men have won all three previous meetings this season, though not without problems.

They edged home by two points at the Brighton Centre, then produced astonishing comebacks for one-point successes at the Triangle and Bletchley, tonight's venue.

Rodger Farrington was their saviour in the away game with two free throws to force overtime, though Sterling Davis has scored Bears' crucial final points in all three previous contests between the sides.

Nurse said: "Milton Keynes are a good side and playing as well as anybody in the country right now.

"They need to win. They have pretty much qualified for the play-offs but they will want that third place.

He added: "There was only one of those three times when we did not deserve to win and that was when we came from 17 points down in the last seven minutes at the Triangle.

"People might say we did not deserve to win up there last time but they forget we had played a hard game against Towers the night before.

"I think we have made some steps forward since then and I am looking for us to play really well.

"Two of the better teams in the league will be going for some serious stuff tonight and I am excited about it."

Bears' title chances suffered a major setback on Monday when leaders Towers produced an authoritative display to win at Leopards.

The same sides meet at Crystal Palace on Sunday, when a Towers victory will ensure top spot. Bears need to win their last three games and hope Leopards do them a favour in the derby.

Second place is secure however, which is a major achievement for a club who completed a hat-trick of wooden spoons this time last year.

Bears warmed up nicely for their final three games with a supremely comfortable defeat of Edinburgh Rocks on Sunday.

Davis, who led the way with 18 points and 11 rebounds, said: "That was a good change for us. We have had three or four nail-biters but it was a good feeling to kind of relax.

"I'm never totally relaxed until the final buzzer sounds but maybe that win will give us some confidence.

"It's important for us to play well at this time of year. The coach is keeping us up to date and letting us know where we stand in the rankings but it comes down to what we have to do.

"Anybody can be beaten on any given night so the other results don't matter too much to me."

Bears' Mike Brown will be up against his previous club while Lions' bench will include Rodney Alexander, who spent pre-season with Brighton.