Gleaner win thriller to keep crown

Orville Clarke, Freelance Writer

THE GLEANER retained the Jet-sponsored Division One Business House domino title at the JPS Sports Club on Friday evening when they clipped Air Jamaica 117-115 in a thrilling final. With less than a minute remaining, both teams were locked at 115-115 and with the seconds ticking away and the title on the line, The Gleaner pulled it off by two points to the delight of their supporters.

In the dying stages, the MVP pair of Earl 'Marra' Morrison and Courtney Burke, along with captain Winston Nixon and Eric Channer, won crucial games to give The Gleaner their third title in the past four years.

Earlier, Air Jamaica led in the early stages but The Gleaner soon gained the ascendancy to lead 66-55 at half time. On the resumption, Air Jamaica rallied to win the first three games and as the match progressed, they drew level at 71 all.

NO BREATHING SPACE

Thereafter, Air Jamaica never allowed the 'Newsmen' much breathing space and the scores read 100-98 in favour of The Gleaner, then 101 all before Air Jamaica eventually pointed at 102-101 and held the lead until The Gleaner levelled the scores at 108.

It was locked up at 114 in the countdown to the wire and although The Gleaner inched ahead once again when Michael Leighton and Leroy Cooper won a crucial game, it was all nerves at 115-115. But just when it seemed like it could go either way, the defending champions dug deep at crunch time.

Roger Hull and Fred Thomas were the top pair for the 'Lovebirds'. Nixon, the winning captain, was elated but paid tribute to his opponents for putting up a real fight.

WE DON'T LOSE FINALS

"It was a hard-fought contest," Nixon said. "But once again we proved ourselves to be the best team in the competition as we know how to win in tight situations. We don't lose finals," he added.

Losing captain Howard Matthews said "we fought back strongly and I must say Air Jamaica has nothing to be ashamed of. This is only our second year in the competition. Last year we lost the Division Two final to LoJ and went even closer in the Division One final tonight. I hope it will be third time lucky next year," he said.

Meanwhile, Jamaica Electrical Technologies Limited (JET) held on grimly to beat Scotia Bank 132-129 in the Division Two final, after holding a commanding 20-point lead at half time. The MVP pair for JET was Lincoln Dawson and Natalie Richards.