Brighton Bears' hopes of avoiding the wooden spoon in the Southern Conference for the second successive season received a further blow last night.

The Bears went down 110-99 after double overtime at London Leopards last night.

It means they are still four points behind next-to-bottom Thames Valley, having played two more games.

Bears have it all to do in a tough run in as, after visiting Newcastle Eagles on Thursday, they face Milton Keynes twice and Leopards again before their final fixture at Thames Valley.

Bears have lost 16 times to Leopards, qualifiers for the play-offs, in the last 17 games.

Leopards, beaten only twice at home since the turn of the year, were led in the scoring by Rashod Johnson, who secured a game-high 31 points.

It was Johnson who took the match into overtime with two free throws to make it 80-80, Bears having gone into a tense fourth quarter 68-64 ahead.

The hosts' Jason Kimbrough kept his cool to ensure a second extra period with two more from the line after Danny Hildreth was harshly called for a foul with Bears leading 88-86.

Leopards came out the stronger, yet the door was left open for Bears with just under three minutes remaining when the hosts were reduced to four men after Gareth Davis fouled out.

Wilbur Johnson made both free throws to put Bears only one behind at 94-93.

But Leopards went on to effectively seal victory with a 10-2 run which included seven points from Rashod Johnson.

It was the third time this season that Leopards have won a game finishing with only four players.

Bears: Johnson 30, Brown 24, Wallace 21, Reese 11, Wahl 9, Hildreth 2, Seaman 2.

Leopards: Johnson 31, Kimbrough 26, Alderson 26, Robinson 8, Davis 6, Martin 6, Attewell 4, Alexander 3.