Majesty, Tivoli in NBL showdown

Kemar McLeish of Majesty Gardens (left) tries to dribble past Javon Bailey of Urban Knights during their Flow/NBL semi-final match at the National Stadium Courts on Tuesday. Majesty won, 73-68. (Photo: Joseph Wellington)

MAJESTY Gardens Legends marched into the final of the FLOW/National Basketball League (NBL) final on Tuesday after beating Urban Knights, 73-68, in Game Two of their best-of-three semi-final series at the National Stadium Courts for a 2-0 win.

Majesty will now face Tivoli Gardens Wizards in the best-of-three play-off decider, starting at the same venue tomorrow, in a repeat of last season's finale.

Majesty Gardens, with 19 points from Damion Young and 17 points and 11 rebounds from Boldon Todd, kept on top of their opponents for most of the match and came out deserved winners.

Hovando Dunn and Kemar McLeish gave good support, with Dunn posting 13 points and McLeish 12 points and five assists.

Javon Bailey was the Knights' topscorer with a game-high 20 points. His best support came from Dave Blackwood with 18 points and eight rebounds.

Winning coach Ludlow Barker said he had promised there would not be a Game Three in the series.

"This one was a lot harder to work for... as after a good first-half we got very sloppy... but we are on a mission and now we are ready for Tivoli," he said.

He said the Legends will now have to try to correct some of their errors and put their previous meeting with the defending champions in the past.

"Whatever happened in the Southern Conference is gone; this is the All-Island, the big one, and this is the one we want," he said.

Majesty started brilliantly, scoring freely to take a 28-13 lead after the end of the first quarter. They continued into the second, stretching their lead to over 20 points at one stage, and led 44-27 at half-time.

However, many who had written off the former champions watched as the Calvin Martin-coached Knights, led by former St Catherine High School star Bailey, clawed their way back into the match in the third quarter.

Bailey was in scintillating form, producing some magical moments to constantly get on the scoreboard to keep the Knights within touching distance.

Urban Knights eventually claimed the period, 18-10, to close the gap to 10 points (55-45) entering the last quarter.

But Majesty held their nerve and played intelligently to keep their opponents at bay, preserving a seven-point advantage at the end, despite losing the period, 23-18.

"Majesty Gardens came out as if they really wanted it... We dug ourselves in a hole in the first half and we weren't running our systems...," said Urban Knights' assistant coach Kevin Alexander.

Meanwhile, Tivoli's coach Ted Marshall anticipates a competitive final from their arch-rivals, but believes his team is stronger defensively.


Source: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sport/Majesty--Tivoli-in-NBL-showdown_9097782#ixzz1R7LIiyHk