Brighton Bears and Worthing Thunder gave their fans a pre-season treat by beating London Towers on Sunday night.

Nick Nurse's Bears, including new boy Rico Alderson, eased home 36-30 in a 20-minute contest to open their tournament at the Brighton Centre.

They also scored a 56-46 win in the decider with Thunder, who had stunned Towers 54-49 in the second game of the evening.

The event was enjoyed by 2,000 fans and was a major public relations victory for both Sussex clubs.

It may have lacked the cutting edge of league and cup action but Bears coach Nurse had reason to be encouraged.

He said: "We have a lot talent here and there were glimpses of what we can do."

Thunder coach Gary Smith added: "I think we did a lot better than people expected."

Bears looked sharp in defence against Towers but offensively both sides will hope an indifferent dress rehearsal is a sign of good things to come on the big stage.

Sterling Davis opened the night with a three-pointer and, like Kendrick Warren of the Towers, showed why he will be one of the key players in this season's battle for honours.

Fans also relished a fabulous combination between guards Randy Duck, Ralph Blalock and Mike Brown, who finished it off, and a huge block by Emiko Etete, who scored off the subsequent attack.

Alderson looked way short of his best having stepped off a flight from Nashville earlier in the day, but received a warm reception from home fans.

Towers looked to use their bench against Thunder but the ploy quickly backfired as supporters roared the Sussex side to victory.

Thunder, who had the event's top scorer in 38-point Lavoris Jerry, also made Bears work hard.

Bears led by just one point when young Rani Malik rattled the hoop with a three-point attempt 5min.30sec from time.

Nurse's men then pulled away with Alderson sinking a three in the final minute. Brown was their top marksman on the night with 19.