Kwesi Mugisa, Staff Reporter
Urban Knights' big man Damion Gardener (ball in hand) looks to cut to the basket past Tivoli Garden's defender Oraine Hart (right) during KFC/bmobile National Basketball League (NBL) action at the National Indoor Sports Centre last night. Urban Knights won 93-78 for a 2-0 series lead over the Tivoli All-Stars and a place in the finals. - IAN ALLEN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
STARING ELIMINATION square in the face, defending champions
St. George's Slayers rallied from an eight-point deficit headed into the final
stanza, to keep their season alive by beating the Denham Town Wizards 76-61
in KFC/bmobile action at the National Indoor Sports Centre last night.
Meanwhile, top seeded Urban Knights became the first team to book their place in the final when they swept the Tivoli Gardens All-Stars 2-0 courtesy of a 93-78 victory in the night's late game.
The Knights, led 18 points by Fernando Young, have kept a dream season on a roll, getting by a Tivoli team who they clipped 77-68 in overtime in Saturday's game. The Knights now await the winner of game three between St. George's Slayers and the Wizards. Damion Young had 20 points for Tivoli in a losing effort.
COMEBACK
Kali McCarthy led the comeback effort for the Wizards with 15 points and 11 rebounds and saw his team outscore Denham Town 37-14 in the final quarter, while Kirk Ferguson had 22 points for Denham Town in a losing effort.
The Wizards got the early advantage when they won Saturday's game one 95-93, and seemed intent on sending the defending champions home. St. George's were obviously not having their best game, they were slow in transition and failed to put away easy lay-ups, but they came charging back from an early 10-point deficit and eventually closed the lead to 22-19 with six minutes left to go in the second quarter. However, Denham Town clung stubbornly to their narrow lead and headed into half-time up 39-34.
However, their chances of sweeping the cup-holders were dealt a major blow when Farquharson went down with a twisted ankle early in the third quarter and did not return. They still held a 47-39 lead headed into the final quarter but a huge run by St. George's, led by McCarthy who had eight points in the quarter, saw the defending champs level the series.
The teams will contest game three on Wednesday at the National Stadium courts.
