In a hard-fought contest, Rockets held the lead for 37 of the 45 minutes, but a treble from the free throw line by Thunder with just 2.8 secs left brought the teams level.

However an 11-5 overtime sequence by Rockets gave them the deserved victory.

Sergi Guardia Marti top scored with 22 points. - which included nine rebounds - as well as three assists and three steals.

Recent American signing Deion Turman contributed 18 points, including some outrageous dunks together with seven rebounds, and Alex Zurn scored 14.

He also took down seven rebounds, gave six assists and stole the ball three times, while captain Danny Carter also had a double digit haul.

The result means a win at nearby Hemel Storm on Saturday could see their side into the next round, and Rockets then travel to Kent Crusaders in the third round of the National Cup.

Head Coach Manuel Pena Garces is excited ahead of this weekend’s crunch games and said: “It was a great win against Worthing and a relief to come away from the game with a win because we really deserved it and we have been close in a number of games so far this year.

“We are a long way off the finished product and we still need to keep working hard to reach our potential but we showed great character after losing in overtime two weeks ago to come back and win against Worthing.”

“This weekend is huge for us and we begin by facing a very talented Hemel team also looking to secure a place in the quarter finals of the competition. They play up tempo basketball and have a really good calibre of English talent and we know they will be fighting really hard to win the game.

“We also have to work really hard this week to prepare for this and I know my players will be ready for the challenge.”

Kent beat Reading 75-64 earlier in the season but assistant coach Pedro Garcia Garrido remains confident, saying: “They are a very good team and played really well against us. They have a good balance and some really talented players but our group has learnt a lot since then and we will be more prepared for the challenge.”