Brighton Bears looked destined to be southern conference wooden spoonists for the second successive season after going down 97-81 at Newcastle Eagles last night.

Bears' fourth consecutive defeat means they must win three of their remaining four fixtures to have any chance of climbing off the bottom.

Their fate will be sealed if nearest rivals Thames Valleys Tigers, who are four points better off with three matches in hand, win just two of their last seven games.

Newcastle were given a tough battle in gaining their second win over Bears in the space of six days to consolidate third spot in the northern conference.

Eagles, looking forward to their show down with Chester Jets in the uni-ball trophy final a week on Saturday, were led by American forward Donnie Johnson who hit 33 points and grabbed a dozen rebounds in his side's sixth game in a fortnight.

The outcome was another personal triumph for Eagles coach Tony Garbelotto, a one time protege of opposite number Mark Dunning.

Bears were in the game until midway through the final quarter when Eagles, leading 80-71, sealed victory with American guard TJ Walker nailing three consecutive three- pointers.

Brighton jumped into a 28-20 lead after the first quarter, but lost Demetric Reese with a bruised collar bone in the second session as Eagles out-scored their opponents 29-14 to cross over 49-42 ahead.

Leading 40-34, Bears were hit by a 15-0 run which included seven points from Brian Ehlers.

Dunning's men came out strongly after the break and although they cut the deficit to 52-48, Eagles maintained a slender advantage to go into the final period 71-65 ahead.

Kevin Wallace led Bears scorers with 24 points. Wilbur Johnson, who has been averaging 18 points per game, hit 19 while Canadian Dave Wahl fired ten points and pulled down 15 rebounds.

Bears scorers: Wallace 24, Johnson 19, Brown 15, Wahl 10, Reese 6, Midgley 3, Seaman 2, Hildreth 2.

Eagles scorers: Johnson 33, Ehlers 19, Windless 15, Walker 14, Whyte 8, Ogunjimi 4, Gordon 2, Miller 2.