Oxford Devils put their off-court problems behind them to defeat high-flying Manchester Magic 111-91 in the National Basketball Conference at the White Horse Leisure & Tennis Centre on Saturday.

Phil AlexanderThe Devils, who lost their main backer last month, sent a clear message to the the league that they are not finished yet.

The first period, dominated by Phil Alexander and OJ Choutka, finished with the Devils 21-14 up, but better was to come as Oxford outplayed their counterparts 30-17 in the second period to take a formidable 51-31 half-time lead.

Manchester were expected to make a scoring surge after the interval, but the Devils, fielding only six players, built on their lead with a great defensive display to increase their advantage to go into the final period 81-53 to the good.

As predicted, the visitors hit back at the now tiring Devils team, scoring 13 unanswered points, but the home side still did a good containing job on Stephen Gayle, the league's leading scorer.

As the pressure began to tell, the home team lost Joe Milnes with five fouls and Manchester closed the gap to ten points with a minute left.

But the Devils were in no mood to be denied and responded by scoring 11 points in the last minute to ensure a tremendous victory.

Devils coach Bill Baker was delighted with his team's performance, saying: "Although we played a great offensive match, I thought containing Gayle was the key, and the players deserve all the credit for this."

Leading Devils scorers: P Alexander 32, OJ Choutka 30