Hot hand from centre Ezra Marques helps Barking Owls brush aside Raiders to move back into top four

A dominant performance from Barking Owls centre Ezra Marques helped his side move back into the top four of the Albany Basketball Association men’s A-grade competition on Tuesday night.

Marques proved too strong for his younger Raiders opponents, helping the Owls claim a commanding 70-33 victory in round nine.

After knocking down 16 first-half points, Marques continued his form in the second half adding 17 to finish with a game-high 33 points.

Owls led by 16 points at half-time and the margin only grew from there, outscoring their opponents by 21 in the second half.

Scores were level midway through the first half before Marques helped the Owls pull away as he knocked down 10 of the final 16 points in the opening 20 minutes.

Owls quickly pushed the lead out to beyond 30 points midway through the second half as Marques along with Tom Powell scored heavily to guide their side to a 37-point win.

Marques was the main scoring avenue in the Owls’ fifth win of the season and grabbed a number of rebounds while Powell finished with 19 points, 15 of which came in the second half, and Justin Benson (10 points) was solid at both ends of the floor.

Jordan Pansoy top scored for Raiders with 15 points.

Ambassadors moved to equal top spot after a thrilling one-point victory over Infernos.

After leading by four points at the main break, Infernos hit the front in the dying minutes only for Caleb Carman to respond for Ambassadors to secure the 42-41 result.

Carman hit 11 points in the win and Callum Dixon added 10 while Tom Edwards (15) was gallant for Infernos.

Sonics recorded their fifth win of the season on the back of a strong first half against The Sharks.

A 10-point half time lead was the catalyst for Sonics 56-45 win as Kye Griffiths and David Arthur dropped 14 points each.

Red Rogers hit 15 for The Sharks and was well supported by Callum Bolsher (13).

Tigers beat Denmark Magpies by forfeit.