The Guyanese pair of Steve Neils Jr and Andrew Ifill led the Royal Extra Lions to a 78-68 upset win over top contender Detour Shak Attack as play in the Trinidad and Tobago National Basketball Federation Club Championships “Big Eight” continued on Monday at St Paul Street Complex in Port of Spain.

Shooting guard Neils bucketed a team-high 21 points in 29 minutes, grabbing four rebounds and dishing out three assists while Ifill, a former Shak Attack player who joined Lions last season, had 20 points and six boards.

According to reports, Royal Extra started well and, at the end of the first quarter, held a 20-14 lead. But the second period was more competitive with the teams scoring 15 and 12 points respectively as the  Lions held on to a nine point advantage heading into the third quarter.

Shak Attack, the 2009 North zone champion, came out after the break and outscored their opponents 29 – 22, closing the lead to 57-55 with 10 minutes remaining.

Lions, however, was able to re-establish itself and held off the rally by the Detour side to pull off a 10 point win.

Brian Zamore chipped in with 14 points and nine rebounds for the winners, while Shawn Lawrence had a game-high 22 and Kurt Christian 16 for Shak Attack.

Lions, which lost its “Big Eight” opener to Defence Force, faced the National Flour Mills (NFM) last evening in the second match of a double header played at the St Paul Street Complex.