Jubilant Tivoli Gardens Wizards players celebrate as they lift the championship trophy while Jamaica Basketball Association president, Ajani Williams (second left) and club president Edward Seaga (left), look on, following their 85-72 victory over Majesty Gardens Legends to seal the best-of-three series 2-0 in the JBA/Flow All-Island National Basketball League final on Saturday at the National Indoor Sports Centre. - Anthony Minott/Freelance Photographer

Tivoli Gardens Wizards captured the coveted National Basketball League (NBL)/ Flow All-Island Championships with an exciting 85-72 victory over Majesty Gardens Legends on Saturday night at the National Indoor Sports Centre.

The Wizards won the series 2-0, this after they had captured the opening game on Thursday at the same venue.

The champions were winning their second major trophy of the season, following their Southern Conference title win over the Legends in the final.

Cash award

The west Kingston-based team also collected their NBL trophy and a first-place cash award of $300,000. Majesty Gardens collected the runners-up trophy and $125,000.

Kirk Ferguson of the Wizards was voted the Most Valuable Player of the finals.

A delighted Edward 'Ted' Marshall, coach of the Wizards, said he was grateful because they had to work really hard to win.

"I think that despite us having the better players, I think that we had to work our butts off to win," said Marshall. "I believe that if my players didn't follow the instructions we could have lost the series."

Marshall added: "I think we also underestimated Majesty and this was the reason why everytime we put up a big lead, they rallied back at us."

The Wizards began confidently and fought gallantly to take a 48-43 lead at half-time.

The champions, who were composed in attack and defence, quickly extended their lead to 58-45 midway the third quarter. But Majesty rallied to close the quarter on a 17-7 run, which included two three pointers from captain Baldon Todd. Despite the surge, the Wizards led 66-61 at the end of the third quarter.

However, Majesty failed to find an answer to the Wizards' offense in the fourth period, as Ferguson, with 25 points and 12 rebounds and Andrew Whilby, with 15 points and 19 rebounds, led the way.

The Wizards dominated the final stanza and outscored their opponents 19-11 as they eased to their third national title.

Marland Nattie, coach of Majesty Gardens, cited a lack of tactical discipline, but also noted that his team were outplayed in the series.

Reason for failure

"I think my players failed to play according to instructions because everybody wanted to do their own thing and no one stuck to the game plan.

"We were also outplayed by Tivoli in most parts of the game because they were a lot more patient in the transitional game," Nattie added.

Meanwhile, former champions Urban Knights captured the third-place trophy with a 77-57 win over Manchester Pythons. Oniel Mundle, with 14 points and 10 rebounds and Christhopher Brown, who scored 14 points, were the leading scorers for the Knights. NevijeWalker top scored for the Pythons with 18 points.