Bears owner Romek Kriwald launched an astonishing attack on his head coach as Bears were bounced out of the uni-ball Trophy.

The Sussex side never really looked like avoiding a fourth straight defeat in the group stages.

Coach Mark Dunning, normally such an animated figure on the sideline, drew up a chair and watched in silence as his side played out the final quarter.

Bears never gave up out on court and at least kept the scoreline fairly respectable.

But Kriwald was unhappy his men had not given another enthusiastic crowd of 900 at The Triangle more to shout about and accused Dunning of giving up.

Kriwald said: "The performance of the Bears was not what was required. It certainly was not what I would expect given the effort that has been put in and the organisation behind the team.

"The most disappointing thing was the attitude of the head coach. You get a situation in the fourth quarter where Sharks call a timeout and our head coach is sitting with his arms folded for the entire minute.

"You've got the Sharks up by 20 points and you've got Chris Finch (Sheffield coach) on the line encouraging his team and our coach looking straight out into space.

"That's not what the head coach is paid to do."

Dunning had initially been his usual passionate self, at one stage hurling his clipboard to the ground and giving it a kick in frustration.

He defended his passive attitude in the final stages, insisting there was nothing more to say when his side started the third quarter 17 points adrift.

But Kriwald said: "I'm not content with that. When the coach has nothing further to contribute to the effort of the team on match night and is not supportive of the team, that's the time I feel I can be critical of the style of coaching.

"What I find impossible to accept is the head coach sitting on the sidelines with his arms folded when the crowd are trying to get behind the team.

"The crowd are excellent here and they deserve more than that."

Kriwald did not have time to raise the subject with Dunning on Saturday but said: "I will not be looking to make changes but I will express my dissatisfaction with that performance."

Co-captain Michael Brown admitted he was surprised by events in the closing stages but said it was up to senior players to turn things round.

Brown said: "I saw the coach sitting there and he didn't say anything or make any subs but we are out on the court and it's up to us to keep playing hard.

"A game lasts for 40 minutes. We were 16 or 17 points down and we still kept fighting. That's how we are going to get out of the slump we might be in.

"He's looking for every answer possible. There's pressure on him as a coach because he wants to push us so we succeed.

"We do things in practice and when it comes to games we can't transfer it. It looks like 'what the hell is he doing?' but he's tried everything."

Bears certainly never dropped their work-rate on Saturday but they rarely looked like scoring a rare win.

They were 11 points down at the quarter, lost the next two periods by one and five respectively but salvaged some pride in the final quarter, with Dave Wahl's seven points at least ending his personal scoring drought.

Wilbur Johnson hit 25 points and claimed 12 rebounds, seven of them offensive, against his old club.

But even his was not a vintage performance, especially at the free throw line, from where he converted just three of 12 attempts.

Brown and Johnson remain the two really class acts in the Bears line-up while the performances of those alongside them remain wildly inconsistent.

Kevin Wallace again sat out proceedings with an ankle injury, though he is close to full fitness.

The bench players each had ten minutes or more and can expect extended runs in next weekend's Trophy clash at Chester.

But they had little answer to an experienced Sheffield side in which Fab Flournoy claimed 16 rebounds to go with his 13 points and veteran Peter Scantlebury hit 17 second-half points to keep Bears firmly at bay.