He had no voice by the finish but Billy Mims could scarcely have shouted louder.

And why not? His Leicester Riders upset the odds at the Coventry Skydome and won through to their second National Cup final in four years, defeating Thames Valley 95-85 in a see-saw encounter.

Entering the match with 16 straight victories over the East Midlands side, it should have been so easy for Paul James' side. Not so however.

Leicester harassed, gambled and pulled out every stop to leave the Tigers clutching at straws as they turned around a 38-45 half-time deficit with a 13-0 run after the break to take the lead for good.

"People said we were a one on one team but six players took the knocks on the floor," croaked an exuberant Mims. "For 40 minutes we came and got the job done."

Tigers were five ahead before Riders replied, a quick 8-0 run taking them in front for the first time. But the Bracknell outfit ended the first period 22-25 to the good and maintained the advantage until later in the quarter when a 9-2 burst put Leicester up 35-33.

Inspired by John McCord, who hit 17 of his team-high of 27 in the first half, the Southern Conference side finished the half strongly, ten unanswered points opening up a cushion which stretched to seven when the New Yorker finished off an alley oop as time expired.

The lead grew two further after the re-start but Larry Johnson notched seven consecutive points in a huge surge for the Riders which established an advantage they would not again concede.

Trailing 71-63 at the end of the third quarter after a late trey from Malcolm Leak - Leicester's eventual top scorer with 29 - Thames Valley tried to rally but could not find their range as their opponents bossed the interior.

A pair from the line by McCord with 2:04 left and reduced the deficit to just 84-82 but Riders drained 11 of the final 14 points to clinch a deserved advance to the final.

"I think we've still got two glass shoes," added Mims. "We've been the Cinderella team all along and we still intend to be in the final."