Isle of Man Basketball Association’s regular league season ended with a trio of matches at the National Sport Centre last Thursday evening.

The round of fixtures featured a deluge of three-pointers and a redrawing of the league table just ahead of the play-offs.

First on the schedule was a match-up between old rivals Forget Me Not Jets and Microgaming Cavaliers. Delicately balanced at first, it was Cavs who found their form in the second quarter with a flurry of outside shots from Phil Evans and Sergio Arboleya.

Jets’ usual fast-break game was disrupted by early challenges from Cavaliers that slowed the pace, but Wayne Mears still managed to find the mark on the set offence to add some points to the board.

It came as little consolation as Cavaliers continued to rain three-pointers all the way to the half, leading at the end of the second quarter 31-19.

The start of the third quarter saw Jets find some pace and begin to whittle away Cavaliers’ lead with some nice baskets from Mears and Jake Glover on the break.

An adjustment from Cavs again resulted in them finding their mark, Evans and Arboleya this time joined by Daniel Dunajewski with swish shots from the outside.

As the game progressed, Cavaliers managed to maintain a significant lead and looked to use their time on offence to keep the lead intact and run down the clock.

It was not until well into the fourth quarter that Jets managed to find their own form outside the arc, Paul Kilic and Tom Dalton-Brown hitting three-pointers that slashed the lead to a slender four points and gave them some much-needed momentum.

Cavaliers sensed the danger and tried to run down the clock with each offence, forcing Jets into early fouls to put Cavs on the free-throw line and give an opportunity to gain possession.

The tactic came at a cost though, allowing Cavaliers the chance to put points on the board and, with only seconds left, they were up by three as Jets inbounded from the baseline.

Pushing the ball quickly down the court gave Kilic the chance to take a deep, challenged three-pointer on the buzzer for a chance to tie the game but it was not to be, landing just wide and granting Cavaliers a hard-fought win, 61-58.

Thursday’s second game was a match-up between Turkeys and Eagles which saw one team take flight from outside the arc.

Eagles used their pace to run the floor in a quick game that saw some opportunities for Jack Coates and Lorenz Freno.

It was when the offence slowed that they struggled though, Turkeys’ tough defence and solid rebounding proving difficult to overcome.

The latter side’s set offence proved more successful at breaking down the defence, allowing them to get on the boards, but it was the outside shooting that really made a difference.

With an impressive nine three-pointers for 27 points, Chris Wolfendale single-handedly matched every other team from outside the arc on the night.

The final score was 81-45 to Turkeys who may be rediscovering their form just in time for the play-offs.

The final game of the regular season was played on Sunday as PwC Hoops took to the floor against Microgaming Cavaliers.

Hoops worked well on offence, particularly the quick fakes and drives from Holly Hennessy, Becky Dunne and Lauren Ellison which caught out the Cavaliers defence.

It was Sergio Arboleya who made the difference for Cavaliers though, finding a route to the basket for a total of 20 points. Final score 61-38 to Cavaliers.

l With the regular season concluded, the league now enters a seeded play-off tournament, with every team only three wins away from taking the 2020-21 league championship.

The first two rounds of the tournament will be played this Thursday and Sunday respectively, with winning teams progressing to an arena court final on Thursday, July 1.

Bracket one for the first round will see top seed Forget Me Not Jets take on PokerStars, while Douglas Basketball Club play Turkeys. In bracket two Wolves face Eagles and PwC Hoops battle Microgaming Cavaliers.

All four games take place in the NSC on Thursday starting at 7pm - the winner of each game will then progress to the second round on Sunday.

As always spectators are welcome with courtside seating available to view all the action.