The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

ALTHOUGH he wasn’t 100 per cent, shooting guard Ricardo Pierre felt he had to come back and make a contribution to the Commonwealth Bank Giants in game three of their New Providence Basketball Association men’s semifinal playoff series.

On Monday night at the AF Adderley Gymnasium, Pierre canned 12 points, hitting 4-of-7 shots from behind the three-point arch. He joined four other players in double figures as Commonwealth Bank exploded past the PJCS Stingers 93-71 to snatch a 2-1 lead in the John Archer divisional final as they rebounded from their game two loss on Saturday night.

On the other side of the coin, the defending champions Mail Boat Cybots reeled off their second straight victory to surge ahead 2-1 in their Vince Ferguson divisional final with a 106-91 decision over the Real Deal Shockers in the feature game.

Eugene Bain was unstoppable as he came up with a big double-double with 21 points and 19 rebounds in the win for the Cybots, coached by Wayde Watson. Mitch Bain followed with 20 points, four assists and three rebounds, Kenneth Pratt had 16 points, six rebounds and three assists, Brian Bain 13 points and three rebounds and David Taylor 12 points, six assists and four rebounds.

In a losing effort for the Shockers, coached by James Price, Salathiel ‘Donkey’ Dean had 20 points and six rebounds, Floyd Armbrister had 29 points and six rebounds, Vernon Stubbs had 14 points and Dion ‘Rookie’ McPhee had 10 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

The Mail Boat put together a solid package as they came from a 19-18 first quarter deficit to take a 56-33 margin at the half that they never relinquished in the second half.

Giants 93, Stingers 71

With Michael Bain out with a knee injury he re-aggravated in game two on Saturday night, Pierre said he needed to provide some spark to help put in some offensive deposit in Commonwealth Bank.

“What was missing was the fact that they were clogging up the middle so we couldn’t get the ball on the inside to our bigs,” said Pierre about working the ball on the inside to their big men. “We needed to distract them a bit by going on the outside. So I came up with a little extra just for tonight. I’m not 100 per cent. I’m about 85 per cent, but I had to come out and help us get the job done.”

Mark Hanna had another explosive game, pumping in a game high 23 points with 12 rebounds, four assists, two steals and as many block shots. Jeffery Henfield had 16 points, Gamaliel Rose had 13 points and 10 rebounds, Jackson Jacob had 10 points and 10 rebounds and Jeremy Hutchinson had nine points and four rebounds.

For the Stingers, coached by Lavardo Bowleg and Moses Johnson, Able Joseph had 14 points, nine rebounds, four steals and two assists. Gavin Scavalla had 12 points and five rebounds, Devon Ferguson had 11 points and seven rebounds, Ian ‘Wire’ Pinder 10 points and eight rebounds and Batchelette LaFleur chipped in with eight points and five rebounds.

After getting off to a quick start, the Stingers managed to come back for an 11-11 tie on a three-pointer from Joseph with four minutes and 23 seconds to go before the first break. The Giants, however, managed to stay ahead as Hutchinson hit a three-pointer and added a lay-up for a 16-15 lead.

A jumper from Henfield with 22 seconds left enabled the Commonwealth Bank to post a 19-25 margin at the end of the first quarter. In the second quarter, Hanna picked right back up with a jumper and Henfield ended a run with a three-pointer and a lay-up as they extended their lead to 29-21 with 6:43 on the clock.

PJCS responded with a run of their own led by LaFleur’s lay-up and ended with a lay-up from Pinder as they went ahead 33-31. Another run by the Giants, sparked by Pierre’s three-pointer, pushed their lead to 38-36 at the half. The game stayed close in the first two minutes of the third. But after holding onto a 42-40 advantage, the Giants went into another gear as they stayed on top, extending their lead to 61-57 at the final break.

Pierre led off the fourth on a three-pointer for the Giants’ 64-59 lead. After Pinder cut the deficit for the Stingers to 64-61 on a jumper, Pierre came back with another three and Jacob and Hanna added consecutive lay-ups to extend Commonwealth Bank’s lead to 69-62.

With about five minutes left in the game, Michael Bain came into the gym and walking on crutches after undergoing a minor surgery on his left knee earlier in the day, he joined his Giants’ team-mates as he helped to cheer them to the victory. That seemed to have sparked his team-mates on the court as Pierre canned a three-pointer, Hanna completed a three-point play and Rose grabbed an offensive rebound that he put back with a two-handed dunk to extend their lead to 83-69 with 2:13 on the clock.

Less than a minute later, he came up with an explanation mark on the game as he got an alley hoop pass for a towering one-handed dunk for an 85-69 lead, leaving just the final outcome to complete the game.

Game two in both series are slated for Wednesday night, starting at 7:30pm. The Cybots and the Shockers are scheduled to play the opener, followed by the Giants and the Stingers in the feature contest.