Urban Knights and Runnin Rebels will contest Tuesday’s FLOW/National Basketball League (NBL) Southern Conference final.

However, seven other South Conference teams will still be in with a chance of copping the NBL title after advancing to the play-offs.

St George’s Slayers, Majesty Legends, defending champion Tivoli Wizards, Spanish Town Spartans, St George’s Saints, the JDF and Selassie Gardens Lions finished third to ninth, respectively, and will now await the other seven qualifiers from the other three conferences.

After a slow start to the season after losing two of their first three matches, Urban Knights got into gear and have won their last 10 games to top the points table with 24, one more than Rebels.

In their final preliminary round game on Thursday, the Oneil Brown-coached Knights cruised to a 68-57 win over the Saints at Portmore’s Edgewater court.

Kwame Lawrence led the former champion with 14 points and Ian Gooden had 12 points and 10 assists. Saints’ Kirk Ferguson had 17 points and Rohan Cruise 14 points.

Urban Knights controlled the game from the opening quarter, leading 21-10 after the first interval and 38-24 at half-time.

Meanwhile, over in the east on Thursday, Pure Playaz secured one of the two places available for the Eastern Conference after scoring 96-70 win over Portland Pistons.

Adrian Lattibeaudiere and Jason Wilson led the Playaz with 22 points apiece, with Wilson also pulling 14 rebounds. Vinroy Moore and Jermaine Bailey were the top-scorers for the Pistons with 18 points and nine and 11 rebounds, respectively.

The win carried the Playaz to 19 points from 10 games, six clear of Buff Bay, Yallahs Gators and the Pistons, who are all in with a chance of claiming the precious second spot.

Morant Bay sit at the bottom with eight points after eight defeats in as many games.

Pure Playaz have two games to play and can finish with no less than 21 points and cannot be surpassed by any team.

Buff Bay have four games to play and can end with 21 points, but Gators and Pistons have three each and can only finish with 19.

However, the hunt for the second play-offs spot continue this afternoon when Pistons face Hawks and the Warriors host Pure Playaz at the Morant Bay courts at 2:00 pm and 3:45 pm, respectively.