The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

REUBEN Goodman and Alvano Laing canned a basket and a pair of free throws in the final minute as the College of the Bahamas Caribs men’s basketball team pulled off their biggest victory of the season as they pack their bags to head off for their first international trip this year.

Goodman’s jumper with just 58 seconds left gave the Caribs a 62-61 lead and with 14 seconds on a steal from Goodman, Laing was fouled on the pass and he converted the pair of free throws to seal the 64-61 victory over the slumping New Providence Basketball Association men’s defending champions Commonwealth Bank Giants.

“It was a very good effort, good team work,” said Lavar Johnson, COB’s assistant to head coach Bacchus Rolle. “We have been comfortable in practice now and we are trying to do it together as a team in our games and not putting any pressure on anybody when we don’t get it right.

“We’ve been trying to get them to play fundamental ball and to be able close out games and the only way we can do that is if they continue to play team ball and not as individuals. If you look at the majority of the games that we lost we did it down the stretch by one, two and three points. So we know these guys want to win.”

While Saturday’s performance in the lone game played at the AF Adderley Gymnasium gave the College of the Bahamas their third straight triumph and a big boost going int their trip to Florida this week, it was a soul searching loss for Commonwealth Bank, who have now dropped three straight.

“If we can get that same effort when we go away, we will be right,” said COB’s assistant coach Johnson as they prepare to leave town on Wednesday to play their first in a three-game series against Florida Memorial that night.

The other game scheduled didn’t play Saturday night after the Island Luck Pros won by default over the Y-Care Wreckers. The Wreckers were coming off a 99-87 loss to the Patron Regulators on Friday when the Real Deal Shockers knocked off the Double R Services Limited Cleaners 90-83.

Caribs 64, Giants 61

After trailing by 10, 61-51 with 3:39 left to play, the College of the Bahamas tightened up their defence and held the Commonwealth Bank scoreless as they surged back on a 14-0 spurt to seal the victory to improve their win-loss record to 4-11, but are still at the bottom of the Vince Ferguson Division in fifth place.

“We were down, but we were confident that we could come back,” said point guard Anthony Sands, who helped to orchestrate their rally. “The lead was small, so we were confident that we could come back and pull it off. We have been playing some very close games lately, so we knew once we were right there, we could do it.”

As they prepare to travel, Sands said his teammates are fired up to play their collegiate counterparts before they have really been gelling over the last few weeks and it has showed in their results.

“The guys are now believing in themselves and we are playing like we should be, so we’re very confident that we will do very well on this trip,” Sands said.

Laing, playing 34 minutes and 21 seconds, scored a side high 13 points on 4-of-7 from the field and 5-of-8 from the free throw line with 10 bounds and two block shots to lead the Caribs.

Justin Smith, in 32:34 minutes, had 12 points, eight rebounds and eight steals, while Goodman contributed 12 points as well with four rebounds, three steals and two assists. Justin Munroe, despite getting into foul trouble, had nine points, five rebounds and four assists and both Sands and Charles Taylor added six points.

The Giants, coached by Perry Thompson, played shorthanded, but they still managed to turn things around in the second half after falling behind 30-28 at the break.

Robson Memmon had a big night with 19 points and 12 rebounds in 29:46 minutes and Mario Dan added 12 points and 14 rebounds. Both Patrick Brice and Samuel Johnson had eight points but the Giants only got four points and seven rebounds from Jeffery Henfield and one free throw with six rebounds from Kevin Hinsey.

“We just have to get back to what we have been doing in the first half of the season and that is practice and getting a lot more hungrier,” Hinsey said. “But I would rather us go through this slump now and get over the hump than to do it in the playoffs.

“We just have to play better defensively because although we have not been having the full team out, we are still capable of playing much better than we are doing right now.”

Shockers 90, Cleaners 83

Still red hot with their sixth straight victory, the Real Deal, coached by James Price, remain on top of the Vince Ferguson Division with their league leading 11-2 record.

William Rigby, still the hottest player in the league, had a game high 25 points on 9-of-19 from the field, 4-of-9 from the three-point line and 3-of-9 from the free throw line with nine rebounds in 28:26.

Salathiel Dean scored 21 points with 13 rebounds, five assists, three steals and three blocks in 30 minutes, Mark Taylor (11 rebounds) and Floyd Armbrister both had 14 points and Dominique Beadle added 10 points.

Double R Services Limited, who dropped to 4-12 for fourth place in the John Archer Division, got a game high 29 points from former scoring champion Oscar Lenny, who continues to make a remarkable comeback after an injury. He also had six assists, five rebounds and three steals in 34:46 minutes.

Reynard Minus scored 17 points with nine rebounds, both Jamarise King (12 rebounds) and Tamiko King had 11 points apiece and Perez Thompson added seven points.

Regulators 99, Wreckers 87

Riding to their third straight win, Patron climbed to 10-5 as they hang onto second place in the Vince Ferguson Division at 10-5 on Friday night.

In 31:45 minutes, Kenneth Pratt had a game high 28 points with eight rebounds and six steals to lead the Regulators, coached by Don ‘Robo Cop’ Dorsett. Simon Cruz had 17 points, Cordero Thompson had 13 points, Gamaliel Rose 11 points and 11 rebounds, Alex Rolle 11 points, Fabian Lightbourne eight points and Carlos Thompson six points.

Randy Williams scored a side high 27 points with five rebounds in 32:37 minutes for Donnie Culmer’s Y-Care, who are on a five-game losing streak including their default to the Pros on Saturday.

Lorenzo Carter came up with 12 points, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals. Leon Bain (five assists), Anthony Whylly and Emeka Watson (four rebounds) both had 10 and Kevin Armstrong (six rebounds) and Dancel Knowles added nine each.

Tonight

7:30pm - PJ Stingers vs Real Deal Shockers

9pm - Mail Boat Cybots vs Commonwealth Bank Giants

Wednesday

7:30pm - Island Luck Pros vs Real Deal Shockers

9pm - Commonwealth Bank Giants vs Rythm Rebels