Brighton Bears cruised past London Towers by 89-69 at the Brighton Centre last night to pull two points clear of the defending champions, Sheffield Sharks, at the top of the British Basketball League.

Bears went 19-12 ahead with a 10-2 run, including five points from Emiko Etete, and never trailed again as the former Tower Kendrick Warren led their scorers with 20 points. Andrew Alleyne backed him with 19 points and 13 rebounds. Yorick Williams added 13 for Bears, who have two home games to come against Sharks.

With Bears and Sharks outclassing all others in the BBL - Towers are in third place - the title seems certain to be settled by those two clashes, with Sheffield needing to win both as they have already lost twice at home to Bears this season.

The bottom club Birmingham Bullets' season took another twist yesterday when the coach, Steve Tucker, returned to America on "indefinite leave of absence" due to a family crisis. The assistant coach, Darran Ling, will take over.