The Jamaica Star :: Sport :: Rebels ambush Soldiers 60-52

Anthony Minott, STAR Writer

Jamaica Defence Force's Raymond Francis (left) drives to the basketball against Runnin' Rebels' Adrian Forbes (background) as Forbes' teammate Rodney Wiggan (right) moves to avoid contact during a KFC-sponsored National Basketball League match at the Stadium Courts on Tuesday, August 12. - Anthony Minott

Runnin' Rebels ambushed the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) 60-52, as second round action in the National Basketball League tipped off at the Stadium Courts on Tuesday night.

The Rebels, which improved to a 6-6 record, were led by Lynford Brown, who scored a game-high 15 points. Two other players, Paran Brown (13) and Greg Warlock (11), made it into double figures, while only Denny Barnaby with 14 points had a double-digit score for the JDF.

Both teams looked rusty early in the game, as the scoreline was a weak 13-10 in Rebels' favour at the end of the first quarter. The scoring pace stepped up a bit in the next quarter with Rebels notching 19 to the JDF's 15, to hold a 32-25 half time lead.

The third quarter saw another slump in shooting, as the soldiers outscored the victors 12-10 to cut the lead to five - 42-37 - at the close of the third quarter. The army men could not maintain the momentum and Rebels extended the lead, scoring 18 points to their opponents' 15 points for an eight-point win. The JDF. dropped to 5-7.

Won game

In the late game at the same venue, St George's Slayers won their fifth game of the season in 12 starts with a 65-54 triumph over 'Sunshine City'-based Portmore Flames. Kali McCarthy led Slayers with 17 points, while Rohan Brown scored 14 points and Michael Jackson added 10.

The Flames offence ran cold most of the night as one of their key players in attack, three-point specialist Adrian Coote, could not get going. Kernado Smith was Flames' leading scorer with 17 points, while Gary Reid, Ryan Peddlar and Phillip Reid had 10 points apiece. Flames now fall to a 6-6 record.