By RENALDO DORSETT
Sports Reporter
rdorsett@tribunemedia.net
THE New Providence Basketball Association ended the first segment of its season on a high note with a pair of marquee matchups Saturday night at the DW Davis Gymnasium. The league reopens play on January 3.
Commonwealth Bank
Giants - 132
Defence Force
Marines - 73
The Giants remained undefeated with the highest scoring output and biggest win by any team this season. Gamaliel Rose led seven Giants players in double figures with 23 points and 12 rebounds en route to the 59-point blowout.
The Marines had no answers for Rose inside who shot 10-13 from the field and added two steals and two blocks on the defensive end. Michael Bain finished with 20 points and seven assists, Jeremy Hutchinson added 17 points and 17 rebounds and Jackson Jacob scored 16.
The Giants scored 50 points off the bench led by Ricardo Pierre’s 17, Jeremy Henfield added 16 points, five rebounds and five assists, Patrick Brice added 13 points, seven rebounds and four assists while Taige Adderley chipped in with four points and 10 rebounds.
Kevin McPhee led the Marines with 22 points, Jamaal Moxey added 18 and Elvardo Burrows finished with 12. The Marines led 10-9 at the 4:54 mark in the first, but it would be their last lead of the game as the Giants closed the first quarter on an 11-6 run. They took a 20-16 lead into the second quarter.
Commonwealth Bank went on to outscore the Marines 112-57 over the remainder of the game, including a 78-35 stretch across the second and third quarters. The Giants led by just eight, 31-23 with 5:25 left to play in the first half, but closed on a 30-10 run. They took a 28-point lead into the half when Bain made a three-pointer to give the Giants a 61-33 lead.
The Giants’ lead ballooned to 49 points in the third and reached as much as 62 points in the fourth when Pierre’s three-pointer gave them a 129-67 advantage with 1:12 left to play.
Commonwealth Bank shot 55 per cent (53-96) from the field and a blistering 52 per cent (14-27) from three-point range led by Pierre who shot 5-10, Jacob shot 4-5, while Bain and Henfield shot 2-3.
With three players with over 10 boards, the Giants outrebounded the Marines 62-35 and scored 24 points off 23 turnovers. The Marines shot 36 per cent (31-85) from the field and 18 per cent (3-17) from three. The Giants improved to 8-0 while the Marines remained at the bottom of the league standings at 0-8.
Island Luck Pros - 80
COB Caribs - 73
Perhaps the most surprising part of the season thus far has been the Pros leading the John Archer division at 5-3, ahead of the defending national champions.
Island Luck led by 10 with less than two minutes left to play, but survived a frenetic rally from the Caribs to hold on for the win. The Pros led 73-63 at the 1:17 mark when Reuben Goodman began the rally for COB with a layup. They came within a single possession following Roland Horton’s three-pointer with two seconds left to play to make the score 75-73.
Stephen Miller was perfect at the line on the ensuing possession to seal the win for Island Luck.Livingston Munnings led the Pros with 19 points, 11 rebounds and five blocked shots. Miller added 15 points, Jackson Davis added 12 points while Kevin Wright and Lorenzo Carter each finished with nine points.
Goodman led the Caribs with 19 points, Glen Davis finished with 12 points while Alvano Laing finished with a double double - 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Trailing 9-8, Munnings’ layup gave the Pros the lead and sparked a 9-4 run to end the first quarter.
COB rebounded in the second and regained the lead on Davis’ jumper early in the period, 20-19.
Tied at 24, the Caribs took the control late in the quarter and Goodman’s layup with 32 seconds left to play gave them a 32-38 lead at the half. Their lead reached as much as seven early in the third on a three-pointer from Goodman for a 37-30 score.
The Pros responded with a 17-2 run which resulted in a 15-point turnaround.
Patrick Rolle capped the run for the Pros with a layup to give his team a 47-39 lead and they took a 55-51 lead into the fourth quarter. Island Luck holds a half game lead over the MailBoat Cybots who stand at 4-3.
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