MANCHESTER Magic will play Reading Rockets in their third consecutive National Cup final in January.

The holders, who also won the trophy in 2007, overcame a physical Brixton resistance at the Amaechi Centre last night by 98-81 to seal their place in the Sheffield showdown.

“We want to make it three in a row,” said coach Jeff Jones, who saw his men consolidate their league title defence with a 83-59 win over Coventry the previous night.

“It has been a good weekend. We did enough against Coventry and we knew it would be tough against Brixton but we maintained our composure.”

Magic didn’t have to sparkle to gain their league points against Coventry, with Jones running his bench for most of the second half against a lacklustre opposition.

But Division Three Brixton didn’t roll over, putting in a spirited – occasionally over-spirited – performance.

Taner Adu again led the Magic scoring with 24, while captain Stefan Gill and Steve Boonham hit 17 apiece. Brandon Kimbrough scored 14 and dished out eight assists.

Forward Nic Opacic and guard Ambokile Bell gave Magic good options from the bench, with Opacic hitting nine points with four assists and Bell eight and four.

“Nic was one of our plus points,” added Jones. “We are still bringing the young ones through and he did some good things at both ends for us. Adam Gerami did as well but still has to work on some things.”

Mystics went down 73-52 at Sheffield.