Kwesi Mugisa, Staff Reporter

BASKETBALL:Excelsior Challenge Tournament

Perennial National Basketball League (NBL) contenders Arnett Gardens Rockers will face recently-promoted Majesty Gardens in the finals of the Excelsior Challenge tournament, 7:00 p.m. at the Tony Spaulding Sports Complex.

Arnett Gardens, who finished in the NBL sixth spot last season after being eliminated by the sharp-shooting Link-Up All-Stars, booked their spot in the semi-finals on Tuesday night following a 68-47 win over the recently-relegated Jamaica Defence Force (JDF).

On this occasion it was Vivian Spence who top-scored with 16 points for the Arnett Gardens team, who have been getting relatively balanced scoring throughout the tournament.

Majesty Gardens booked their ticket when they got the better of Waterhouse in a 65-60 win. The always-dangerous Baldon Todd led the way for Majesty Gardens with 25 points, to set up a rematch of last season's division one finals.

Stronger presence

However, Todd may have a tougher time with an Arnett Gardens team that has not only been unbeaten so far, but have a stronger presence in the paint.

"This is going to be a very interesting match up. We both have pretty strong players in the paint, but I think that whoever wants it more will win the game today," said Arnett Garden's coach, Maria Mercurius.

"We have already beaten them once this season, if we play our game I don't see any reason why we cannot do it again," she added.

The competition, which was for NBL and division one teams, tipped off a little over three weeks ago and saw the top two teams from a preliminary round of two groups with eight teams each advancing to the semi-final round.