DEFENDING champions National Housing Trust (NHT) and newcomers Scotiabank are the leaders in the 2016 Business House Basketball Association 3-on-3 Division One and Two leagues, respectively, as the preliminary rounds draw to a close at the National Stadium Basketball Courts.

NHT lead division one with 21 points from 11 games, followed by Guardsman Group with 19 points from 11 games, while Sagicor Life ‘A’ are in third place with 17 points from nine starts.

Bank of Jamaica lie in fourth place with 16 points from nine games, followed by four-time champions Grace Food Processors (Cannings) with 15 points from nine outings.

The tussle for the other three quarter-final spots will be interesting as National Land Agency with 12 points, Startek (formerly Accent Limited) on 11 points and Gleaner Company with and Seprod Group on 10 points each, go to war.

Others competing in the division are Sagicor Life ‘B’ (nine points), National Commercial Bank (nine), Courts/Unicomer (eight) and SportsMax (eight).

In the division two, newcomers Scotiabank are going great guns in their first season as they have chalked up 10 straight wins from as many games to lead with 20 points, with a game in hand against Jamaica National Building Society.

They are followed by Cari-Med with 19 points from 10 outings, Urban Development Corporation (UDC) follow with 18 points from 10 starts, Pepsi Jamaica are on 15 points from nine games and JMMB Merchant Bank also have 15 points from as many games.

The other teams vying for the next three qualifying places are University of Technology (UTech) with 11 points, Aeronautical Telecommunicatoions/Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority (AEROTEL/JCAA) (10 points), Industrial Commercial Development (ICD) Group (10), Jamaica National Building Society (nine), Continental Baking Company (nine), Supreme Ventures Limited (eight) and Financial Services Commission (eight).

Meanwhile, the teams finishing in the top-eight positions in both divisions will qualify for the best-of-three quarter-final play-offs.

In division one games at the National Stadium Basketball Courts, NHT held off Startek 34-32; Gleaner Company beat Courts/Unicomer 37-32; Sagicor Life ‘A’ beat Guardsman Group 28-25; Seprod Group defeated Sagicor Life ‘B’ 38-31; and SportsMax beat National Commercial Bank 34-33.

In division two, Scotiabank defeated Continental Baking Company 24-8; UDC defeated JMMB Merchant Bank 46-27; AEROTEL/JCAA beat Jamaica National Building Society 25-21; and Pepsi Jamaica beat Financial Services Commission 30-21.