Brighton Bears' dreams of Wembley will have to wait for another year, after a nightmare ten minutes against one of the best fives in the history of the British League.

Nick Nurse's men, nine points up at half time against Chester Jets last night, were destroyed 32-10 in a calamitous third quarter and never really looked like recovering.

In the end, they suffered in the way every other team in the country has suffered against a Chester side who can now look to add the BBL Championship to the Northern Conference, BBL Trophy and ntl Cup already in their cabinet.

Bears' coach Nurse reflected on the 95-82 semi-final defeat at Coventry and said: "That was a huge momentum swing.

"I was sitting there trying to figure out what to do.

"I was okay even when they took the lead because I thought we could hang in there but they never stopped.

"I thought they were out of sync at half time and I really thought we were going to put it on them.

"But they hit some shots and that changes confidence in a hurry. The game switched so fast."

No wonder Nurse was confident at half time. His side had matched Chester's early onslaught shot for shot, finishing an explosive first period at 23-23.

It stayed level until midway through the second, when Mike Brown hit his third three-pointer out of four and Albert White connected from similar range as Bears stitched together a 10-0 run.

John McCord's two free throws were answered by Randy Duck from long range as Brighton took their biggest lead of the game at 48-37.

It was all downhill from there. John Thomas, the League's player of the season, hit the final basket of the half and that was a taste of what was to follow when the sides re-emerged from the changing rooms.

Jets could not miss in the third quarter. Bears lost their scoring touch when they most needed it and the frustration for Nurse boiled over when he thought Calvin Davis had taken an extra step when scoring.

The subsequent technical foul was called as Wilbur Johnson scored at the other end.

When Johnson's points were wiped off and McCord meted out punishment from the line, it summed up that decisive quarter.

Bears never stopped battling and their fans sang until the end. Duck drove at the heart of the Jets defence aiming to inspire one last comeback but, despite threes from Sterling Davis and White, there was no great escape this time.

Bears' scorers: Duck 19, Davis 18, Brown 15, White 14, Farrington 10, Johnson 6.

Jets' scorers: McCord 25, Davis 19, Hamilton 19, Thomas 18, Cameron 14.