TEAM Solent Kestrels punched their ticket to the NBL Division One play-off final with a 104-80 win over Nottingham Hoods at the SSC, writes Jack O'Keeffe.

The victory sees TSK reach the play-off final on their third successive attempt, having triumphed on the previous two trips over Worthing Thunder and Hemel Storm.

The visitors got off the mark first through Johde Campbell from beyond the arc, before big man Morakinyo Williams sunk a pair of foul shots, to put them up 2-5 early on.

However a 13-0 run for TSK, capped off by back-to-back Max Richardson triples, gave Kestrels a 15-5 lead after just four minutes. Hoods responded with seven unanswered though and influential guard Kyle Jimenez found his scoring rhythm.

Andre Arissol came off the bench and ensured Kestrels would maintain their lead and when Kemel Archer made a free throw at the back end of the first quarter, the home side would take a 29-22 advantage after one.

Williams momentarily cut the gap to just five points for the visitors but Cole Gentry and Luke Busumbru had other ideas, as they restored nine-point advantage almost immediately.

Despite a Jimenez jump shot, Kestrels would string together another 7-0 run to push the arrears into double figures at 14, forcing coach Ben Stanley into his first timeout, TSK 40-26.

Hoods would respond post timeout with a triple from Andrew Vickers, however Kestrels continued to pile on the pressure, taking a 46-29 lead with just four minutes to play in the half. The sides would trade baskets to close the half until Kestrels scored seven straight in the final 30 seconds, including a wild step back jump shot from Gentry to beat the half court buzzer, TSK 60-40 to the good.

The league champions opened the second half with a furious 11-2 run inside the first three minutes of play, capped off by a Busumbru dunk to send the SSC crowd into a frenzy as Nottingham called for timeout, TSK 71-42.

The Hoods would show plenty of resolves out of the timeout and would slowly begin to chip away at the 29-point advantage the hosts had built.

Either side of a blood stoppage, Nottingham scored 12 unanswered to close the quarter out and by that point the east Midlands outfit had trimmed the deficit to just 14, with 10 minutes to play.

Kestrels turned up the defensive intensity in the early goings of the final period, holding the Hoods to just two points in the opening three minutes, allowing them to restore a 17-point lead through Busumbru.

An 11-0 run mid way through the quarter, kick started by six straight Brendan Okoronkwo points, would be enough to for TSK to put themselves back in control of the ball game with just four minutes to play.

With the lead now back at 26, Kestrels were able to make the most of the final possessions to ensure they ran out 104-80 winners, booking their third successive play-off finals appearance.

TSK head coach Matt Guymon was extremely pleased with his squad's efforts.

He said: “I was proud of our guys' performance in the third game against Hoods this year. Hoods have a number of scoring weapons and really challenged our defence and even when we opened a significant lead they showed, like that have done all season, that they can score in waves and get themselves back in the game.

"Fortunately we did enough to respond in the fourth quarter and control the remainder of the game."

Kestrels produced yet another balanced scoring effort, this time led by Orlan Jackman’s 18 points whilst Gentry and Okoronkwo added 17 and 16 respectively. Nottingham’s Williams had 27 points to power their scoring charge with Vickers chipping in 17 and Kyle Jimenez 10.

Kestrels will now head to Manchester on Sunday, April 24 where they will face Hemel Storm in the final, in a repeat of last year's showpiece event. Also on the day, Solent's Division One women’s side and the Division Two men’s team who will both be in play-off final action also.