Richard Midgley made it into the starting five at California and earned praise from an opposing coach.

The point guard from Burgess Hill got the nod ahead of AJ Diggs for the PAC-10 opener at home to Stanford and, despite seeing his minutes reduced by early foul trouble, helped clinch a 72-59 win.

Stanford coach Mike Montgomery admitted the Cal Golden Bears had competed harder than his men and said: "The people who hurt us were not their stars. It was guys like David Paris, Erik Bond and Midgley."

A sellout crowd of 11,877 saw Midgley go seven-for-ten from the free-throw line, all in the final six minutes.

He totalled 16 minutes, missed with his two field goal attempts, claimed an offensive rebound, had two assists, a steal and a turnover.

Bears followed that with a superb 88-72 win over highly-rated Oregon, Midgley this time hitting seven points, including one of three from three-point range and two of five from closer in during 29 minutes of court time.

His brother Danny is in the middle of three tough games which could decide whether his Maine team win their conference.

He had nine points, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals in a 101-53 blow out win this week and was set to retain his starting place today.

The former Brighton Bear, 21, is averaging ten points and five boards per game and is working hard on his skills and physical shape.

Full update on Danny's progress and his ambitions for the future in The Argus next Saturday.

Andy Smith turned in a man-of-the-match display as Kerr Vance had an 82-70 win over the Dingos, a touring team from Sydney.

He made light of the long trip back to North Carolina after a Christmas break in Sussex and claimed 31 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and four steals.