Anthony Minott, Freelance Writer

Port Royal Bulls' Damion Young (centre) blocks a shot from St George's Slayers' Ricardo Hunt (left) as Young's teammate Leighton Meeks (#20 back to camera) looks on during a KFC-sponsored National Basketball League match at the Stadium Courts on Sunday. Bulls won 71-61. - Anthony Minott/Freelance Photographer

Port Royal Bulls, the new sensation in the Kentucky Fried Chicken-sponsored National Basketball League, beat veteran team St George's Slayers 71-61 to keep their winning streak intact, at the National Stadium Courts on Sunday night.

It was the newcomers' eighth straight win, while Slayers, beaten semi-finalists last season ,and two-time champions, dropped to 4-4.

Coach of Port Royal Bulls, Oniel Williams, said: "This victory wasn't a surprise to me because the Runnin' Rebels beat them (St George's Slayers) this season and we beat the Runnin' Rebels in an earlier game, so we expected to win."

However, he was not too happy with the points tally and rebounding, especially on the offensive boards.

"We need to work on our rebounding and that will get us more scoring chances," said Williams, a former Tivoli All Stars player, who retired in 2003.

Bulls were led by Damion Young, with a game-high 22 points and 15 rebounds and Paul Oliphant with 16 points. Slayers' top scorers were Michael Jackson and Dwayne Goulbourne with 17 points apiece.

Mixture of veterans

The Bulls, with a mixture of veterans such as Oliphant and Young, both formerly of Tivoli All Stars and Leighton Meeks, once at Link-Up All Stars; and youthful captain Dovian Wade, Dane Massey, Paul Brown and Ellis Pollack, came back from a poor first quarter when they were down 10-18.

They rebounded strongly in the second quarter, outscoring the Slayers 21-9 and led 31-27 at half-time.

Slayers changed that momentum in the third quarter with the highest quarterly score of the game, 24 to the Bulls 19, and had a slim 51-50 lead at the end of the third quarter. However, the Bulls' veterans, Young, Oliphant, and Meeks, stepped up in the final quarter and lifted the team home with a 21-10 advantage.

Slayers' coach, Winston Harvey, was a disappointed man and charged the veteran players to step up big time.

"We lost the game in three areas. We didn't have a strong defence. We did not rebound the ball well and we had too many turnovers," he said.

In addition, his team did not shoot well in the last quarter. He felt that his team beat themselves as "poor passes and judgement" led to a barrage of turnovers.