Sport & Entertainment
JAM | Feb 3, 2025

Upper Room Eagles stun defending NBL champions Urban Knights in Alf Remikie Cup opener

ABIGAIL BARRETT

ABIGAIL BARRETT / Our Today

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Upper Room Eagles’ 77-70 victory over defending champions Urban Knights. (Photo: Instagram.com/@basketballjamaica)

The Upper Room Eagles soared to a 77-70 victory over defending champions Urban Knights in the second match of the Alf Remikie Cup on Saturday, February 1—a strong start to their National Basketball League (NBL) campaign.

Earlier in the evening, the MBBGC Warriors dominated the Central Celtics (65-44).

The highly anticipated clash, a rematch of last season’s NBL Finals, saw both teams battling for early-season dominance. The Eagles, backed by sponsors WATA and Totally Male, faced a formidable Urban Knights side sponsored by National Supply.

The Eagles wasted no time asserting themselves, storming to a 10-point lead (25-15) by the end of the first quarter. Their aggressive offence and high-flying plays made for an adrenalized crowd experience, setting the tone for the night. By halftime, they maintained control with a seven-point advantage, leading 44-37.

Both teams intensified their efforts in the second half, but the Eagles extended their lead to 63-50 by the third quarter. Despite a strong final push from the reigning champions, who outscored the Eagles 20-14 in the last period, it was not enough to overturn the deficit. The Eagles held firm to secure a morale-boosting win.

D’Andre Forbes led the charge for the Eagles, finishing with 15 points, two assists, and three steals. Shavair Francis and Jermaine Brown added 12 points each, combining for seven rebounds and four assists.

The Upper Room Eagles are celebrating their win against MBBGC’s Urban Knights with the head coach (far left) Simon Brown, Upper Room Community Church’s Pastor, Ian Muirhead and on the far right, Assistant coach Kurt Stewart. (Photo: Our Today/Abigail Barrett)

For the Urban Knights, Omar Barnes recorded the league’s first double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Juvane Carthy also contributed 11 points, while Romaine chipped in with 10.

Upper Room Eagles’ head coach Simon Brown lauded his team’s massive efforts on the court and their tone-setting win. “I’m glad to start the season with our first win… I mean as a coach it’s just one game out of many and the real goal is the NBL title itself,” he told Our Today. “But I think it’s a good confidence boost especially because we really wanted to win last season and come back and play the defending champions and to take the Alf Remikie Cup was a good feeling. But for my goals, personally, it’s just one notch.”

Eagles’ team captain Mathew-Dane Henry echoed his coach’s sentiments telling Our Today that he was proud of his team and their win, “It’s an excellent feeling, you know, grateful to God, as usual, grateful to the teammates for the hard work and we’re just really happy that we get our first trophy of the season… it was an important win mentally, but we’re not going to get carried away, we’re not going to get ahead of ourselves. It’s the first game of the season. We have eight more games to go in the first round, so we’re gonna enjoy the moment and then we’ll move on to the next assignment.”

Urban Knights’ coach Oniel Brown acknowledged the defeat but remained optimistic.

“I must commend my team for showing character…I mean the first two quarters Upper Room played good basketball,” he said. “We made some adjustments at halftime and came back in the game, but Upper Room were the better team today, I must say. However, it is still early season… I’m proud of them. As the season progresses, we’ll get better…we’ve been there before having won the championship last year, we are no strangers to winning.”

Adding to the weight of the Eagles’ triumph was the support of Upper Room Community Church, whose leadership exuded pride in the team’s achievement.

“The development as a club and as a team is tremendous…we’ve come a long way,” said Pastor Muirhead.

With this statement win, the Eagles have made their intentions clear for the season, while the Urban Knights will look to bounce back in their next outing.

The tournament benefits from the support of sponsors such as the Bob and Rita Marley Foundation, the Sports Development Foundation Jamaica, Phoenix Vision Centre, and the Jamaica Olympic Association which donated a shot clock to the league.

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