Nick Nurse has told his Brighton Bears to ride the wave of euphoria and grab two more league points tonight.

Bears go to old rivals Thames Valley Tigers (8pm) in the British League keen to repeat the sort of form which took them to cup glory on Sunday.

Victory would see them close the gap on leaders Sheffield Sharks at the start of an intriguing week of matches near the top of the table.

Sheffield and Chester both have tricky games coming up with Newcastle Eagles and Chester also go to under-achieving London Towers at the weekend.

Coach Nurse admits the superb 89-79 defeat of Chester took a lot out of his side.

He said: "It was a draining event. I have been in this situation before where you win a trophy in mid-season and I know we won't have the same intensity or energy tonight.

"I'm going to tell the players to ride the confidence wave. We are playing good basketball right now. We are standing tough and rebounding well."

Nurse has not ruled out making a signing ahead of the January 31 deadline but there is unlikely to be a repeat of last year, when Rodger Farrington made his Bears debut in a Wednesday night game at Bracknell.

Rico Alderson is not 100 per cent fit after taking a blow to the knee early in the cup final but he will definitely start.

Thames Valley have disappointed this season but remain tough opponents.