Steve Gayle fired 34 points against his old club but could not save Worthing Thunder from the first home defeat of their league campaign.

Thunder, with coach Gary Smith and top scorer Jamal Johnson serving one-match bans, went down 94-86 to Manchester Magic in EBL division one.

The result is a major blow to Worthing's hopes of finishing top of the table and will increase their sense of injustice over punishment handed out to Smith and Johnson following their controversial ejections from the recent win at Sutton.

Gayle, who had played all his English basketball in his home city before moving from Magic to Thunder in the summer, was outstanding and, along with Daniel Hildreth, offered the home side their only positives from a disappointing night.

They dragged themselves level at 72-72 on the third quarter buzzer but then ran out of steam as the visitors maintained an effective barrage of three-pointers.

Home skipper Gaylon Moore fouled out with five minutes remaining on the clock.

Magic fired five threes in the first quarter to lead 35-30 against a home side for whom Chris Wright was promoted to the starting five.

Moore hit eight points in the second period but Magic still changed ends with a 55-48 advantage. Thunder wiped that out in an impressive third quarter but could not maintain the momentum.

Scorers: Gayle 34, Hildreth 18, Moore 11, Wright 6, Butterworth 5, Harris 4, Ugbana 2, Brame 2, Mead 2.