TIVOLI Wizards, Manchester Pythons, Morant Bay Warriors and Catherine All-Stars lead their respective Conferences in the Flow/National Basketball League (NBL).

With just over two weeks to go before the inter-conference round, defending champions Wizards have the edge in the Southern Conference with 19 points after outpointing archrivals Urban Knights 81-75 on Sunday at the University of Technology (UTech).

The Urban Knights are in second place with 18 points from seven wins and four losses.

The Wizards’ Andrew Whilby, eager to play professional basketball overseas at the end of the season, scored the bulk of his 20 points in the second half, adding 21 rebounds, four assists and one steal.

His teammate Kirk Ferguson also contributed 20 points, along with eight rebounds and five assists, with Anthony Farquharson and Omar Barnes contributing 18 and 11 points, respectively.

In a keenly-contested encounter, Tivoli held the advantage 17-16 in the first quarter, and 32-31 at the second half before Whilby, who played on every winning NBL team in the past five years, catapulted the defending champions to a 58-44 lead at the end of the third quarter before wrapping up the match in the final segment.

For the Knights, Dave Blackwood had 14 points and Oneil Mundle 13 points and 10 rebounds.

In the earlier match at UTech, Portmore Flames jumped into the top half of the Southern Conference beating early pacesetters Swift Sons, 70-65. The Flames have moved up to 14 points, one behind fourth-place Sons (15 points).

Kenardo Smith engineered the victory for Portmore, scoring 19 points, 12 rebounds, with Adrian Coote adding 17 points, seven rebounds.

In the Central Conference, back-to-back wins by Manchester Pythons weekend have kept them in front with 19 points, after outshining Victory, 71-56, and Spaulding Hippers, 68-44.

Michael Johnson shouldered the responsibility for Pythons on both occasions, scoring 25 points and 27 points, respectively.

In the Eastern Conference, the Warriors stay on top with 11 points after beating Buff Bay Hawks, 72-63 Sunday.

Kirkland Miller put in an all-round performance for the Warriors with 16 points, 16 rebounds, and four assists.

However, Carlisle Coulsen scored a game-high 25 points for the Hawks, adding eight rebounds and three assists.