Defending champions Leicester Riders secured their berth in the NTL National Cup quarter-finals with a 89-126 victory over NBL Conference side Worthing Thunder.

The Riders avoided the potential banana skin mainly thanks to Jon Gaines, who scored a game-high 38 points.

The Thunder provided stiff early opposition, matching the Riders 26-26 at the end of the first quarter, but they had no answer to the Riders offence in the final quarter, which netted an incredible 42 points.

Sean Hampton on 34 and Paul Munday Castle on 25 topped Worthing's scoring.

Leicester fielded Jermaine Brown who has recovered from injury, the ex-Derby guard hitting 25. But the Riders will be more worried over the recurrence of the knee complaint which Karl Brown sustained last season. The veteran will be out for two weeks and may yet require exploratory surgery.

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