Railways edge Tigers to boost finals hopes

Railways Tigers have boosted their bid to play finals in their inaugural season of the Albany Basketball Association men’s A-grade competition after a tight 10-point win over Tigers on Tuesday.

Three long bombs from Railways guard Cyrus Upson midway through the first half broke the game open and set up his side’s sixth win of the year.

Scores were level at seven-all midway through the first half before Upson stepped up to the plate, knocking down three shots from beyond the arc within two minutes to help Railways open up a 21-12 lead with seven minutes to play in the first half.

Railways extended their lead to 11 by half-time and Kane Shephard pushed the margin to a game-high 16 points early in the second half.

Scoring dried up with only 11 points between both sides scored in 13 minutes of play, as Tigers slowly reduced the deficit to nine heading into the final five minutes.

Dean Gliosca hit a three to make it six points but Railways scored the next five out of six points to close out the match 39-29, closing the gap with top side Knights.

Upson led all scorers with 11 and Kyle Smith added 10 points for Railways.

Tim Button dropped nine first-half points for Tigers and Bodhi Holmes worked hard to finish seven in a physical contest.

Two clutch free throws after the final buzzer from Barking Owls centre Tristan Mackenzie helped his side snatch a draw against reigning premiers Knights.

Knights skipped seven points clear but Justin Benson (27 points) willed Barking Owls back into the contest with two minutes to play.

Keanu Weeden hit a three for Knights before Xavier Brenton-Reed tied the game at 62-all.

Kye Griffiths put Knights back up by two points with a minute to play before Mackenzie was fouled by Weeden and calmly sank both free throws as the game ended in a 64-64 draw.

Benson led the way for Barking Owls with 27 points and Griffiths knocked down 16 for Knights.

Raiders moved within one point of fourth spot after a gallant two-point victory over Blazers.

Raiders led by a point at half-time but had to wrestle the advantage back off Blazers to win 43-41.