Worthing Thunder reached the final of the National Trophy with a 96-88 home win over rivals Manchester Magic in a fiery semi which saw two players ejected.

Ryan Marrast and the visitors' Steve Gayle came to blows on court, then again on the overlooking balcony during the fourth quarter and had to be separated by stewards.

The flashpoint did not de-rail a dominant and clearly fired up Thunder who led by as many as 15 points in the first half and only let Magic within four in the closing stages.

Demetrius Scott led Thunder with 21 points and big Cleve Woodfork added 20 plus seven rebounds.

Thunder, fired up by a first home league defeat in two years when Derby stunned them 86-83 the previous evening, leapt out into a 23-13 lead at the end of the first quarter.

They were aggressive, energetic and switched defences in a bid to keep Magic, their National Cup final conquerors recently, guessing.

The hosts led 49-38 at the half, 69-57 after three quarters and were still 83-73 to the good when Gayle, a former Worthing star, and Marrast departed with 4min 53 seconds left in the game.

For a while it seemed Magic had responded better to the altercation and subsequent stoppage as they went on an 8-2 run.

Stefan Gill's three dragged the margin back to 87-83 with 2:25 remaining.

However Thunder, despite having several key players on four fouls, kept their nerve and Scott got to the basket to spark a 9-2 tear which settled the contest.

As in the Cup final, Magic were led by former Brighton Bears swingman Duncan Ogilvie, who had 26 points and 13 rebounds.

Patrick Dwyer, whose three-point shooting caused Thunder so much damage in that game, this time went none-for-four from long range.

Thunder were four-for-ten from behind the arc in a game more notable for its intensity and passion than stellar shooting.

Manchester had extra motivation given the Trophy final will take place at their home gym on Sunday, March 2.

Instead Thunder will take on Reading in a repeat of last year's final, which the Rockets won.

Thunder: Scott 21, Woodfork 20, Mooney 17, Bates 14, Brame 8, Hildreth 8, Marrast 6, Midgley 2.

Manchester: Ogilvie 26, Gayle 22, Gill 13, Jackman 9, Mackay 6, Dwyer 5, Boonham 4, Adu 3,