MONTEGO BAY, St James — St George’s Slayers and Hoopers of Montego Bay scored close wins on Saturday night at the Montego Bay Cricket Club to advance to today’s first set of quarter-final games in the Flow National Basketball League.
Slayers came back from a double-digit deficit in the first quarter to beat Flow NBL-West champion Granville Jaguars by a point, 98-97, on a last second three-pointer from Michael Rogers, while Hoopers outlasted Running Rebels 66-60 in the second game of the double header.The teams will be in action again today at the National Stadium courts where they will face another round of 16 winners for a place in the semi-finals.Granville, led by Leroy Lawrence’s double-double of 25 points and 15 rebounds before fouling out with nearly five minutes to go, came back from a one-point deficit at the end of the first quarter to open up a 13-point lead, 40-27, with four minutes 49 seconds to go in the second quarter. However, Slayers closed the half with a 22-14 run to trail by five points, 49-54, at the break.Granville then started the third quarter with four of their 11 turnovers in the period, allowing Slayers back in the game with a 10-0 run, punctuated with a three-pointer from Rogers.The home team steadied their play, however, and rallied to tie the game at 62-all with four and a half minutes to go, then led 74-70 going into the final quarter of play.Lawrence, however, picked up his final foul at four minutes 32 seconds to go with his team up just by two points, 86-84, thus opening up the gate for Slayers to sneak through.Granville clung to a tenuous one-point, 96-95, lead with 17 seconds to go, but Levar Rose missed two crucial free throws and Rogers was left unguarded to nail the three-pointer with two seconds to go to steal the win.Howard Daley led Slayers with 22 points and six rebounds, Leon Chung had four three-pointers in his 19 points, seven rebounds, five assists and four steals, Rogers had 18 points and five rebounds, while Desmond Harriott scored 11 points for the winners.Rose and Cleon Morgan each scored 19 points to assist Lawrence, as Dave Black made three three-pointers in his 13 points and six assists, while Lemardo Gaubault also scored 11 points and had six rebounds.The second game failed to live up the last-minute heroics of the first one, but Hoopers gave the hometown crowd something to cheer for with a hard- fought, if not ugly win.The NBL-West runners-up trailed the seventh-placed team from the Southern Conference by seven points, 12-19, after the first quarter, but Rebels had an offensive meltdown in the second, scoring just five points to trail by one at the half, 25-24.They rallied to lead 39-36 at the end of the third period, but Hoopers were too much for them in the fourth to run out winners.The teams were tied at 45-all with six and a half minutes to go in the fourth quarter and after Rebels edged ahead, Rayon Bolt tied up the game at 52-all with a three-point basket with four minutes 11 seconds to go.Dwayne Johns then gave Hoopers the lead 56-54 with three minutes on the clock after finishing off a three-point play, and after one final tie at 58-all, Hoopers edged away for good.Bolt scored four three-pointers in his game-high 19 points to lead Hoopers’ scoring, Rayon Gardener came off the bench to score 12 points and grab 10 rebounds providing well-needed leadership on the court, Johns also scored 12 points.Paran Browne scored 13 points and had nine rebounds to lead Rebels, while Omari Green scored 11 points.St George’s Slayers’ Desmond Harriot (right) lays up for two of his 11 points as Neil Samuels of Granville Jaguars attempts a block in last Saturday’s Flow NBL round-of-16 game at the Montego Bay Cricket Club. Slayers won the game 98-97. (PHOTO: PAUL REID)View the original article here
Slayers, Hoopers score narrow wins
