United, another team owned by a football club, was watched by 1,064 people. Led by a 22-point performance from Larry Dassie, Portsmouth won 72–71. The unbeaten run ended in the National Cup semi-finals, which were both held at the Aston Villa Leisure Centre in Birmingham in a 'final four' day on 15 December covered by Channel 4. After following up their first round win over Crystal Palace with a victory away to second-tier side Tower Hamlets and a quarter-final success at Tyneside, they faced another tussle with Kingston. But when Joel Moore suffered serious eye injuries in a road accident, American guard Jose Slaughter was brought in to replace him. This meant an enforced absence for Alan Cunningham, as only two overseas players could be selected for any game, and the revised Portsmouth line-up suffered a 75–92 defeat which denied them a trip to the Royal Albert Hall in London for the final. In the next game, three days before Christmas, mid-table Hemel & Watford Royals inflicted their first league defeat with a shock 82–79 win at the Mountbatten Centre, despite Kalpatrick Wells hitting 20 for the hosts. Another Sunday afternoon home loss followed on 12 January 1986, Leicester Riders pipping Portsmouth 114–113. But six victories in 18 days set up what was expected to be a title decider at home to Kingston on 5 February. A crowd of 1,511 crammed into the Mountbatten Centre, standing three deep on the balcony and sitting on the floor in front of the bleachers. Kingston, in red vests and yellow shorts, dominated the early exchanges and took a 2–15 lead, but Portsmouth outscored them by two points to one in the remainder of the first half. They took the lead at 24–21 and held their biggest advantage, 16 points, at 58–42 before a Martin Clark basket made it 58–44 at half-time. Kingston made some inroads after the break but when Colin Irish sank a three-pointer with 4 minutes 34 seconds to go Portsmouth still looked in control at 103–95. Two quick turnovers then cost them four cheap points, but the hosts regained command at 106–99 with 3 minutes 30 seconds left. The pace of the game then quickened and baskets were traded, but Portsmouth still led 112–109 with 1 minute 23 seconds remaining. Steve Bontrager, who had scored Kingston's previous four points, sank two free-throws to draw Kingston within one, then with 63