Jamille King helped Defence Force to a much-needed win against Brian Chase Academy, 87-72, to secure second place in the final standings of the Men's Premier Division of the Barry Stewart Invitational Basketball League.
The forward sank 26 points in the opening match of a double-header against Brian Chase, which was eliminated, on Sunday night at the Central Regional Indoor Sports arena in Chaguanas in the final round of matches in the preliminary stages.
In the later match, led by Wesley Vincent with 22, Police defeated Stories of Basketball Success (SOS) Academy, 84-79 after leading at the end of each quarter.
Defence Force's win over the last-place finisher ensured that the army/coast guard combination team avoided being grouped in the same bracket as leader Straker Nets, which is the only unbeaten team thus far in the ten-team competition.
The next phase of the league is the round-robin "Big Eight" which begins tonight with teams in Group A re-engaging in the battle. In the double-header carded for later, will feature Nets against seventh-place Maloney Pacers from 8.30 pm, following the match-up between fifth-place Police against Detour Shak Attack, the second-place team, from 7 pm.
Defence Force, which also had Derrick Boxhill (16), Isiah Williams (10) and Kyeon Joseph (10) excelling in the team's final match, will compete in Group B of the "Big Eight" competition. The other teams in that group are eight-place Prisons, Petro Jazz (fourth place) and sixth place SOS. Their match programme will jump-off tomorrow at the Southern Regional Indoor Sports Arena in Pleasantville, San Fernando.