Farquharson triggers Wizards' victory surge

Robert Bailey, Gleaner Writer

Anthony Farquharson turned in a brilliant all-round display to lead former champions Tivoli Gardens Wizards to a nail-biting 67-66 victory over St George's Slayers in the quarter-finals of the Flow/National Basketball League competition on Tuesday night at the National Stadium Courts.

Farquharson, one of the top small forwards in the competition, netted a game-high 23 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to the lead the Wizards into the semi-finals of the tournament.

He received solid support from centre Duken Brown, who netted 16 points and pulled down six rebounds.

The main contributors for the Rohan Robinson-coached Slayers were Leon Chung (18 points), Damion Young (17 points, 10 rebounds) and Michael Rogers (12 points).

The Wizards began the match shakily, which led to them trailing their opponents 35-27 at half-time and 56-47 at the end of the third period.

However, the Edward 'Ted' Marshall-coached Wizards, led by Farquharson who netted 12 points in the final stanza, rallied to stun the Slayers in the last quarter.

Farquharson netted a three-pointer and jumper at the start of the fourth quarter for his team, as they went on to outscore the Slayers 20-10 to secure a close victory.

Wayne Bartley, manager of the Wizards who last won the title in 2011, was happy with team's performance.

"We are feeling very good about ourselves," said Bartley. "We started out very slowly, but in the final quarter of the game is when we really put it together, and so we were able to win the game," said Bartley.

The Wizards will now oppose mid-season champions Spanish Town Spartans in the semi-final.

"Our semi-final game will be tough because the Spartans will be a difficult team to beat, and so we will have to come with our best game to get by them," Bartley said.

"We will have to play good defence from start to finish and we have to make sure that we shut down their outside shooters. I believe that once we do this then we should win the game."

In the opening game of the double-header, the Spartans secured their place in the semi-finals with an easy 71-54 win over Montego Bay Hoopers.

The Spartans were led to victory courtesy of Lynford Brown's game-high 22 points. He received good support from Adrian Forbes, who shot 17 points, grabbed 21 rebounds and seven blocks. Rayon Gardner, 12 points, and Rayon Bolt, 10, were the main contributors for Hoopers.

The competition continues today with defending champions Urban Knights battling Pythons at 6 p.m. and Pembroke Hall opposing Selassie Gardens at 7:45 p.m.