Tivoli Wizards capture Flow basketball title
Tivoli Gardens Wizards (formerly Tivoli All-Stars) are local basketball champions for the first time in five seasons after they defeated Majesty Gardens Legends 2-0 in the Flow/National Basketball League (NBL) best-of-three final, following a 86-72 win in Game Two at the National Indoor Sports Centre on Saturday night.
MVP for the final, Kirk Ferguson, led the west-Kingston side with a game-high 25 points and 12 rebounds, while good support came from Andrew Whilby with 15 points and 12 rebounds and Delano Mallett with 11 points.
After winning the last five versions of the former Division One league, Tivoli coach Ted Marshall was pleased to be taking home the first NBL championship.
“We were ready for the competition and when you train with a team and you get that vibes from the them you know they are going to do well… this means a lot to me and the community and I am proud of the players,” he said.
Boldon Todd was the top-scorer for Legends with 18 points and 12 rebounds, play-off MVP Kemar McLeish posted 16 points and Havando Dunn 14 points.
Despite a slow start from both teams, Tivoli took the initiative midway the first-quarter and had a 21-15 lead at the break. Majesty who trailed the entire match had two opportunities to go ahead.
The first came during the second quarter when they closed in 33-35, but Tivoli held out to establish a five-point advantage (48-45) at half-time.
The third-quarter was evenly-matched with both teams posting 18 points apiece as Tivoli ended the third-quarter 66-61 ahead.
However, the final stanza belonged to the Marashall-coached Tivoli, who put on the frills in the last five minutes of play as they outscored their opponents, 19-11, for a convincing victory.
Majesty Gardens coach Marland Nattie said he was disappointed, losing the series in two matches.
“I’m not sure if the occasions got to them, hence this sort of play of moving away from the game plan… but you cannot be a champion playing like this, you have to be consistent for four quarters,” he said.
Tivoli received a winning purse of $300,000 and the Patrick Ewing trophy for their efforts.
