ARNETT Gardens Rockers gave themselves some hope when they defeated Waterhouse Blazers 79-64 in Game Three of the 2014 Southern Basketball Conference best-of-five finals at Waterhouse Courts on Friday.

Despite their win, Arnett still trailed Waterhouse 2-1 in the series with Game Four scheduled this evening at the Tony Spaulding Sports Complex, starting at 7:00.

On Friday, Arnett Rockers quickly turned on the pressure on the Waterhouse Blazers by outscoring them 24-11 points through Mallett and, by the half-time interval, gained a comfortable 50-32 points lead.

The third quarter was evenly contested between both teams as they traded baskets, but the Rockers were going great guns through Mallet, Spence and Arnel Campbell as they went into a 17-point lead at the final break, leading 61-44.

Waterhouse Blazers rallied strongly in the fourth and final quarter through baskets from Raymond Layne, Gwayne Marks and Cordell Grant, but the Rockers’ lead proved too mountainous in the end.

For the Rockers, Mallett had a game-high 25 points, including six rebounds and four steals, with his teammates Spence with 19 points and 13 rebounds and Campbell with 19 points and 13 rebounds.

For Blazers, Layne had 16 points and seven rebounds, Marks 14 points, and Grant with 12 points and five rebounds.