MONTEGO BAY, St James — Granville Jaguars overcame a late surge from Hoopers to win Sunday’s first ever Flow National Basketball League-West mid-season championships by two points (73-71) at the Montego Bay Cricket Club courts.

After leading by as many as eight points midway the third quarter and appearing to be on their way to a comfortable win, Jaguars who led the league after the first two rounds, saw their lead dwindle and eventually overturned by Hoopers who outscored them 62-55 over the final three quarters after trailing by nine points at the end of the first.

The lead changed hands three times in the final 61 seconds of what turned out to be a pulsating and compelling contest with Dave Black, who was held in check for most of the game, coming up big at the end.

Omar Bell, who led the Hoopers’ resurgence, scored on a reverse lay-up to give his team a one point lead (68-67), but Leroy Lawrence who led all scorers with 30 points, then tied up the game at 69-69 with 30 seconds left on the clock.

Hoopers then took the lead at 71-69, but Black then hit a big three-pointer wit 13 seconds to go to give Jaguars a 72-71 lead, then created a turn over as they won their first title in the NBL-West, despite dominating the league over the last three seasons.

Jaguars settled earliest after a frenetic start and led 18-9 after the first quarter and held on to the nine-point lead at half time (35-26).

Hoopers started chipping away at the lead in the third quarter where they outscored Jaguars 22-19 then opened the fourth quarter with a big run, outscoring Jaguars 6-1 to cut the lead to one point (55-54) with seven minutes and 18 seconds to go.

After another surge by Jaguars fuelled by a three-pointer from Lemardo Gaubault, Hoopers responded to draw to within a point at 62-61 with three minutes 25 seconds to go.

In addition to his 30 points, Lawrence also got 16 rebounds while Black and Gaulbault scored 14 points each for Jaguars. Ryan Bolt had 15 points, including three three-pointers and six steals, Bell had 14 points while Nicholas Watson came off the bench to score 14 points and had eight rebounds.

The league will continue tomorrow with a double header at the Montego Bay Cricket Club. Lucea Flames, who missed making it to the mid-season game, will face MBCC Knights, while Granville will meet Tigers whom they have beaten twice this season already.