LeVaughn Flynn, Staff Reporter

Champions Urban Knights continued their domination of the KFC National Basketball League on Thursday as they extended their winning streak, and assistant coach Kevin Alexander said he is expecting their reign to continue in the play-offs.

To this end, Urban Knights' starters played only minimal minutes as the supporting cast got their chance to impress the coaches as the play-off round draws near.

"We needed to give the starters a rest because we've been playing almost every day this week," Alexander pointed out, adding that some of his players were doing double duty in the business house league.

"We have back-to-back games on Saturday and Sunday against two of the better teams (St George's Slayers and Blazing Panthers) so we used the starters in the first four minutes of the game then rotated the bench mostly."

With about 15 players in rotation, Alexander hinted at internal competition for a spot on the play-off roster.

"Although we have a roster of 12, we don't plan to use 12 players in a play-off situation, so it's time for players to prove themselves to the coaching staff and say 'hey we're ready to go'."

Alexander was confident on Thursday night after watching his reserves thrash Link Up All-Stars 86-53 at the National Stadium court. With two games remaining in the second of two preliminary rounds, Urban Knights have a 20-0 record to top the league with 40 points.

Heading for demotion

Link Up All Stars, who are heading for demotion and fielded only six players for the match, are at the bottom of the table on three points with one win from 21 games.

With almost all of their wins coming in double digits, Alexander added that only minimal work needs to be done.

"I think we have the best defensive team in the league ... (but) we want to work on our inside game for play-offs," he said.

"Our scoring is picking up. We are scoring 80 points and above regularly .. I thought tonight we could have scored a lot more points if we were more penetrative."

André Murray led Urban Knights in scoring with 19 points and Kerron Caine added 18 points. Link Up's Narado Gordon had a game-high 28 points and eight rebounds, with Clifton Walla adding 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Another title contender, Port Royal Bulls, who lost to Knights in the mid-season final, were also winners on Thursday, beating Runnin' Rebels 67-55.

After watching his team relinquishing a 10-point lead at the start of the second half but clawing their way back into the game, player/coach Oneil Williams said his team needs to tighten-up its performance.

"We are taking it one step at a time," said Williams in preparation of the play-offs.

"We're strong on the boards but our all-around defence needs some work."

Leighton Meeks (17 points and 11 rebounds) and Anthony Richards (15 points) led Bulls in scoring on Thursday as they got their 16th win of the season. Paran Brown with 12 points and 13 rebounds led Rebels (10-10), while Greg Warlock (11 points) and Omari Green (10 points and 10 rebounds) also contributed significantly