Anthony Minott, Freelance Writer

Tivoli Wizards' Dwayne Harris (left) shoots over Portmore Flames' Kevin Groves during Game Two of the KFC National Basketball League best-of-three quarter-final series at the National Stadium Courts on Saturday. Tivoli won 69-63 to take the series 2-0. - Anthony Minott/Freelance Photographer

Former champions St George's Slayers stayed alive in the KFC National Basketball League play-offs, after grounding out an 86-80 win over the Port Royal Bulls in Game Two of a quarter-final best-of-three series at the National Stadium Courts on Saturday night.

The Slayers, which tied the series at 1-1, were led by Michael Jackson with a team-high 20 points, including four three-pointers. Jackson was ably assisted by Kali McCarthy, who contributed 19 points, while the Bulls' Leighton Meeks had a game-high 22 points and Damion Young added 19 points and pulled down nine rebounds.

Game Three is set for tomorrow, also at the Stadium Courts, starting at 6 p.m.

Winner to meet Wizards

The winner of this contest will meet the Tivoli Wizards.

Earlier, the Wizards swept Portmore Flames 2-0, after winning Game Two 69-63.

The two-man show of Anthony Farquharson, with 23 points, and Dwayne Harris, 22, led the Wizards in scoring, while Lavar Henry added 14 points. Akeem Swaby scored 15 points and grabbed 16 rebounds for the Flames, while Kenardo Smith chipped in with 12 points.

Coach of Tivoli, Dennis Hutchinson, though happy with the victory, thought that the game was not played on a level playing field.

"The adversities in the game were tremendous, but my team was able to play through it. There were a lot of calls that went against us. If you are making calls you should make it for both teams," he stressed.

Did not execute

He added: "Hats off to Portmore, they played a good game and congratulations to the Wizards, they did well."

The Flames did not execute down the stretch. With 33 seconds left on the clock and down by three points (66-63), the players chose to make passes around the three-point arc instead of putting up a quick shot or driving to the basket. In the end, they ended up turning the ball over. The Wizards Dwayne Goulbourne scored on his team's next possession which iced the game with about seven seconds remaining and a six-point lead.

Portmore were short-staffed, missing four of their top players in three-point specialist Adrian Coote, point guard Jermaine Mascoe, lead man Ryan Peddlar and the energy man Phillip Reid.

"I was surprised that we stayed with the Wizards right through the game, considering that we had some key players missing from our line-up. We were close down the stretch and, with more experienced players on the floor, we could have pulled off a win," Kevin Pinnock, coach of the Portmore Flames told The Gleaner.