Furious Bears coach Nick Nurse sought an after-match showdown with the referees after his side suffered a potentially damaging defeat to Scottish Rocks on Saturday.

Nurse pursued the officials off court after a tempestuous tussle which saw the visitors overturn a 13-point deficit and withstand a desperate late onslaught from their hosts.

Bears took issue with several calls in the fourth quarter as their injury-hit side saw a precious win escape their clutches.

They were also convinced Rocks had been forced out of bounds by a full court press after Mike Brown had cut their lead to just three points with 14 seconds to go.

Nurse said: "I feel the better team was us. We were ten points up at the half, they make a nice run to get back in the game. But we took command again and the refs proceeded to call a goal tend that wasn't a goal tend, an illegal screen that wasn't an illegal screen, a three-second call when we would have had a lay-up and, when they finally called a foul, it took a lay-up away from us.

"The game was over. If they don't call that rubbish, which is what is was, it's a ten-point win and we coast out of here."

Amid those heartfelt complaints, there was another observation from Nurse which will have struck a chord with those willing Bears to the British League title.

"If you are going to be a Championship team," he conceded, "you've got to win that game."

This is a testing time for several leading contenders in the gruelling 40-game league season.

The much-touted London Towers fell by the wayside weeks ago, Chester Jets went down heavily at Birmingham on Saturday and this was a second successive defeat for Bears.

Ralph Blalock limped out on to court when his name was announced, hobbled his way through 30 minutes of court time but was nowhere near the influential performer Bears know he can be.

They really needed someone to help take care of the ball in a second half which saw Rocks plunder 65 points. The hosts committed 13 turnovers in all, which Rocks punished for 24 points.

Rico Alderson had six of those turnovers, including two costly losses as he brought the ball up court late in the fourth quarter, which rather overshadowed a third triple double in seven games.

Alderson added 15 rebounds and ten assists to his 20 points, with 11 of those boards coming at the offensive end.

In fact, Bears hammered their visitors 43-30 off the glass, taking 61 per cent of rebounds available around the Rocks basket, yet still lost.

Defeat was cruel on Sterling Davis and Mike Brown. Davis continued his superb form of 2003 by sinking six out of eight three-point attempts in his 36 points.

He finished the first quarter with a three which tied the scores at 21-21 and, in a two-minute spell either side of the final interval, struck three times from outside the arc.

An amazing spin move and jump shot on the 24-second buzzer also bore the trademark of a player at the top of his game Brown's high energy display featured three threes, seven assists and, just as notably, no turnovers.

He converted both free throws when Rocks coach Kevin Wall was called for a technical foul but Bears missed eight of their 18 free throws.

They were successful with 11 of 22 three-pointers but that was overshadowed by a Rocks side whose long range marksmen kept them in the contest.

They were 12-of-20 from long range with Stephan Sheckles (five-of-ten) having a particularly valuable knack of striking just when his men ended it.

Rocks led 21-14 early on but Bears went on a 15-2 run either side of the first break and were 50-40 up when Brown went the length of the court to score on the half-time buzzer.

The lead peaked at 54-41 when Davis tipped in his own miss a minute into the second half.

Two Sheckles threes launched a 14-0 riposte which silenced home fans but Bears wrestled the lead back at 75-72 at the end of the third.

When Wilbur Johnson went to the line with 5:51 to go, he had the chance to open an eight-point lead.

Instead, both free throw missed, Sheckles hit a three and Rocks launched a 12-1 run which saw them through those tense final seconds.

Bears: Davis 36, Johnson 21, Alderson 20, Brown 19, Blalock 5.

Scottish Rocks: Sheckles 24, Myers 22, Berry 20, Singleton 17, Huntley 10, Perre 7, Bunyan 3, Kennedy 2.