Rodger Farrington is already older and wiser after his first few days in England.

Bears' new signing marked his 26th birthday by making his debut for Nick Nurse's side at Thames Valley.

He was given one training session after stepping off the plane from Phoenix, then played for 15 minutes as Bears recorded their biggest away win for almost seven years.

Their 97-76 hammering of hosts Thames Valley eclipsed anything the club had managed on the road since April Fool's Day in 1995, when Worthing went to Sunderland and won 112-88.

It also capped a whirlwind week for the former Arizona State Sun Devils star, who spent last season in the Israeli first division at Bnei Herzeliya and worked out at Belgian outfit Mons recently.

He said: "It all happened very quickly. When it was finalised, I was here within a day.

"I have been working out this season and had two months in Belgium but I was getting tired of sitting around waiting.

"Luckily coach Nurse was looking for someone who fits my style of play."

As a 6ft 6ins forward, that style is all about mobility and defensive hustle. As a student, he set a record for blocked shots in the highly-rated Pac 10 Conference.

Farrington could not have chosen a better moment to get his first taste of the BBL, coming on a minute from the end of the first quarter with Bears 23-9 clear.

His first contribution was a cleverly manufactured pass under pressure to send Wilbur Johnson in to score, though it was not deemed worthy of an assist from the Tigers statistician.

Farrington hit his first points for the club with a three-pointer 2:38 into the second period to put his side into a 34-16 lead.

The options he gives Nurse were perfectly illustrated by the rare sight of Mike Brown and Randy Duck being rested at the same time while Farrington's presence allowed Albert White to step into the back court alongside point guard Mark Jackson.

The new man was delighted to make an early impact with that scoring pass. He said: "I had only had the one training session beforehand and we ran through how Thames Valley would play.

"I was just trying to be as positive as I could in my first game and not be a detriment to the team. It was a case of trying to get some rebounds and learn the system as I went.

"Coach Nurse told me to try and feel my way through and not be negative in anything."

Farrington was impressed by his first view of BBL action. He said: "It's a really athletic league. I didn't know it was this athletic. It's a fast pace and hopefully I can contribute.

"Israel was pretty strong too. I enjoyed it. The weather and the people were nice. Someone who hasn't been to Israel might look at the news on TV and say 'Wow, you get scud missiles flying over your head out there', but it's not really like that.

"I never encountered a potentially violent situation."

Plenty of fans around the league had been attempting to guess the identity of Nurse's new boy with most seeming to believe it would be a shooting guard.

They were not that far off the mark. The Brighton chief was considering signing a guard with impeccable college pedigree but no professional experience all the time there was a chance of England forward Refiloe Lethunya also joining the club.

Nurse knew by Saturday who he would be going for and completed the deal on a three-way telephone call with Farrington, who was in Phoenix, and the player's agent, in New York.

The Bears coach was reasonably encouraged by what he saw on Wednesday.

He said: "I thought Rodger was a little tentative but you expect that.

"He has got talent and I think he will take a little time to fit in.

"We're happy. He's a nice guy, he's athletic, he's quick and he'll do what we want which is important."