Randy Duck has revealed how a few hours in front of his television set helped drag Brighton Bears off the bottom of the ULEB Cup table.

The skipper was at his forceful best as Bears scored their first home win in Group F, beating Ionikos 86-81 on Tuesday to retain an outside chance of reaching the last 16.

For Duck, who fired the first four points, had 21 by half-time and added two key finishes in the closing moments, the contrast could not have been greater to that night back in November when twice he had a home win in his hands and let it slip away.

A poor long range attempt at the end of regulation time, then a driving lay-up which refused to drop on the overtime buzzer, left Bears on the end of a one-point defeat to the Croatians.

Four more defeats followed before Bears won the return in Split, then saw off the Greeks to climb to fourth in the group.

Bears chief Nick Nurse paid tribute to his captain's efforts in taking videos home with him and analysing Ionikos's game plan.

As for the No. 9 himself? He doesn't mind taking work home. Just as long as he does not have to take 48 hours of regrets.

He revealed: "I take game tapes home with me all the time. It didn't start just now. It's been going on since I've been here. I love breaking the game down.

"If it's one play that I might get a steal or stop them from completing that's all worth it.

"I want every advantage and if that means watching a couple of hours of tape, so what?

"I'm on the floor and I see things Nick can't. I'm just getting better at explaining it to him.

"When we were getting physio before the game I was rewinding plays and telling guys 'When the signal's an open fist the play's this' and 'Play No. 2 is this'."

Nurse appreciated the help. He said: "Randy was amazing. He was probably more ready for this game than I was.

"He had all their sets down, he was showing everybody the game film and he was ready to go. His leadership stirred us for the win."

It's not just leadership. It's also about that finishing touch, and that is where Duck has sometimes come up short.

There have been times where 39 minutes of inspiration have been topped off with a failed play at crunch time.

On nights like those, you get the impression of the captain forgetting all the good work and beating himself up about the one that got away.

Which is why it was so good for home fans to see him full of conviction in the decisive moments against the Greeks.

His finishing helped round off a win also made possible by another big night for Kendrick Warren and some timely threes from Mike Brown.

For the first time, as he signed autographs on Tuesday and enjoyed success, Duck also reflected on those awful few seconds against Split.

He admitted: "It took me a couple of days to get properly over that game.

"I felt like one decision to pull up and shoot was wrong, then the decision to go all the way to the basket was wrong.

"If I had flipped those we might be sitting in a different position in the group.

"Saying all that, I learned from it. I'm going to learn from this game too.

"I'm going to watch this tape and learn some of the angles I used and some of the turnovers I can cut down on.

"It's the same way it's going to be all the time. Either I'm going to be the hero or I'm going to be the goat.

"Point the finger at me. Tonight you can point the finger at me and maybe slap me on the back as well.

"I'm a bit disappointed we didn't win by more points and the guys are laughing at me for that but I want us to go to the next round."

From a more detached point of view, it would appear Bears' chances of progress are slim.

They need to win at least one away game, beat Cholet and hope results go their way both in their group and in the other five ULEB Cup sections.

As professionals, however, Bears cannot think like. They will fly to Vilnius on Monday with high hopes and soaring confidence.

And a whole load of game tape.