This was supposed to be one of the most tense nights of the British League title race.

Instead, Brighton Bears made their third win in four days look relatively easy as they shot down the talented Newcastle Eagles with a flurry of three-pointers.

Bears, not noted for their outside shooting, hit 15 threes from 31 attempts, including nine in a fantastic start which saw them lead 46-18 inside 13 minutes.

Newcastle, despite a 17-2 run, never got arrears back below 14 points as Bears leapfrogged Chester Jets to go back into second place, just four points behind Sheffield Sharks with two games in hand.

Now all eyes around the league will be on the Brighton Centre when the Jets head south this coming Saturday (7pm).

Bears coach Nick Nurse can hardly wait for that one and he was delighted with the show put on last night for a crowd of 3,000, which seemed to include many newcomers to the sport.

Nurse said: "That start was as well as we've played all year.

"Every shot going in, every shot at the other end being contested, every rebound ours, fast breaking and all the guys clicking.

"We've got good shooters and we've been taking more open shots.

"I think we've sent a message around the league by waxing Newcastle like that and we're ready for the stretch run now."

Former Newcastle favourite Ralph Blalock led the charge by hitting six out of eight from long range in his game-high 25 points.

He also had four steals and six assists, the best in the game in both categories.

Mike Brown was four-of-eight from three-point land, Randy Duck three-of-four and Sterling Davis and Rico Alderson added one apiece.

Wilbur Johnson was more at home closer in, failing with just two of his ten two-pointers and providing a highlight when he swatted away a Charles Smith shot, then finished the subsequent counter raid with a tremendous dunk to thrill the young fans.

Bears quickly made up for lost time after tip-off was delayed for 23 minutes with the referees stuck in congestion caused by yesterday's A23 closure.

Blalock hit his first three after just 20 seconds and fired another after robbing Fab Flournoy to open a 16-4 lead with just four minutes gone.

The gap remained in double figures for all but 30 seconds from then on.

Bears led 31-18 at the first break and fired the opening 15 points of the second quarter in just three-and-a-half minutes.

Duck's clever give and go with Blalock helped make it 55-39 at the half and, though TJ Walker hit the first basket after the restart, an 8-0 Bears reply pushed the lead back out to 20 and that was where it stayed for most of the second half.

Blalock played down his contribution, saying: "I've been shooting the ball okay but I don't want to get too excited about it.

"I need to keep doing that for the rest of the season. If I do it helps our offensive game flow a lot better.

"It always helps when we set the tone of the game early. We are a team who tend to go out strong and then get lax so it's good for us to get up by 25 or 28."

Bears: Blalock 25, Johnson 24, Brown 20, Duck 17, Davis 10, Alderson 7, Seaman 4.

Newcastle: Hyatt 20, Arinze 20, Walker 18, Smith 15, Whyte 6, Mavis 6, Flournoy 5, Dotchin 2.