Brighton Bears went down fighting as Chester Jets maintained their lead at the top of the Northern Conference with a comfortable 113-94 win at the Northgate Arena last night.

Chester now boast three wins over Bears this season and have won 12 successive home matches against them stretching back six years.

Brighton, beaten by a single point at home to London Towers in their last outing after five straight wins, remain third in the Southern Conference.

Calvin Davis led Jets to their ninth home win out of ten by leading all scorers with 33 points, while Albert White replied with 30 for Bears.

Bears opened brightly and held an early lead but a 9-2 run helped Chester, who lost ex-Bear James Hamilton early on with an ankle injury, to a first quarter advantage of 28-19.

Brighton then produced a 12-0 tear to be only one point behind at 32-31 before Jets crossed over 51-39 ahead. The third quarter belonged to Chester as runs of 9-2 and 9-0 saw them open up a 22 point lead and there was no way back for Bears who went into the final period 75-55 behind.

Bears (leading scorers): White 30, Duck 18, S. Davis 16.