Bears took another huge step towards a possible Southern Conference title last night, but only after putting their fans' nerves through the shredder once again.

They squandered a 15-point lead in the third quarter and had to survive two missed free throws 1.7 seconds from the end of overtime to claim a precious win over Leicester Riders.

Larry Johnson was Riders' fall guy from the line, just minutes after he forced the extra period by striking five seconds from the end of normal time, following a controversial off-the-ball foul against Wilbur Johnson.

Johnson, Randy Duck and Sterling Davis had all fouled out by the time Riders took their last shots, so Bears would have been severely depleted had the contest gone into second overtime.

It was a fraught night for another big crowd at the Triangle, but one which ended in celebration when they heard their southern conference rivals had all lost.

That leaves Nick Nurse's men well set for at least second place but targeting the title. They need to have one less defeat than leaders London Towers in what promises to be a frenetic last month of the season.

Coach Nurse could not get across to the celebrating Bears fans quickly enough at the end. He said: "It's hard to win in this league. That's one thing I know. We had a great gameplan and things were going well but I don't think we played with enough conviction to get the job done."

For much of the evening, events bore a worrying similarity to the shattering defeat by Newcastle a week earlier.

Bears played some great stuff, racing into a 10-0 lead which they extended to 14 in the second quarter and a seemingly invincible 46-31 when Wilbur Johnson hit the first points of the second half.

Riders produced a 14-0 run but Bears scored 15 of the next 16 points and were 67-55 up going into the fourth.

Michael New hit two three-pointers to put his men back in it and the last five minutes were calamitous for Bears as they scored just two points, lost Davis and were taken to overtime right at the death.

Bears led for most of the fifth period but were staring at defeat when Albert White missed in the final minute. That gave Riders possession with the scores tied on 86, but tough defence forced a 24-second turnover.

Duck expertly ran the clock down before driving through for two with 5.5 seconds left. The Bears skipper then clipped Larry Johnson and could only watch from the bench as the final drama was played out.

Riders had missed 17 of their previous 31 free throws. Johnson duly added another failure to the list and, when he threw up the second looking for a rebound, White rose highest to swat away the danger.

Brighton Bears : Farrington 17, White 16, Duck 15, Brown 13, Davis 11, Johnson 9, Jackson 7.

Leicester Riders: Singleton 23, New 23, Brown 14, Johnson 12, Blalock 10, Turner 4.