The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE College of the Bahamas Caribs men’s basketball team was hoping to take the frustration of their three-game losing streak in Miami, Florida, out on the Real Deal Shockers.

But with the New Providence Basketball Association playoffs looming, the Shockers had plans of their own. Playing in the feature game of the NPBA doubleheader at the DW Davis Gymnasium on Saturday night, the Real Deal held off the College of the Bahamas 77-74.

With the win, the Shockers improved their Vince Ferguson record to 13-3, while the loss kept the Caribs in sixth place at 4-12.

In the opener, Double R Services Limited Cleaners knocked off the Rhythm Rebels 78-68. The Cleaners are still in third place in the John Archer Division at 5-13 and the Rebels round out the field in fifth place at 1-17.

Here’s a summary

of the double header:

Shockers 77, Caribs 74

The Real Deal, coached by James Price, made sure that they were not the fourth straight victim of the College of the Bahamas as they came up with a couple big free throws down the stretch.

With 39 seconds left in the game, Salathiel Dean canned 1-of-2 free throws to put the Shockers up two (76-74) and with 17.4 seconds on the clock, William Rigby did the same to seal the three-point win.

“They played hard. I like the way they came out with so much intensity,” said Dean as he and Rigby were towers of strength down low in the post. “We had to play extra hard just to get a little piece of a win.

“We’re playing alright, but it’s not like how it was when we first started. We’re trying to get back to having fun. Once we can do that again, we should be okay going into the playoffs.”

Rigby scored 26 points with eight rebounds and four assists to lead the Real Dean. Salathiel Dean scored 25 points and six rebounds while Floyd Armbrister came off the bench and added 14 points.

COB blew a series of leads throughout the game and ended up falling behind in the fourth as both Reuben Goodman and Alvano Laing fouled out in the final five minutes.

During that period, the Shockers pulled away from a 57-57 tie three minutes into the fourth to go ahead 74-67 on a three-point play from Dean with 1:29 remaining.

Despite their exit, the Caribs still had a chance to bounce back. They managed to cut their deficit to one (75-74) on Justin Smith’s three-pointer. But an uncalled time out and an errant pass spelled the end for COB.

“We had it. We had it,” was how Caribs’ coach Bacchus Rolle summed up the loss. “We had some miscues down the stretch when we had a miscue between me and the table when they thought that I wanted a time out, but I didn’t.

“Then on our final play, we had an errant pass on a play that we ran all game long. That’s kind of a bread and butter play for us. We went through it during the time out, but the pass was just too hard.”

Instead of pushing their winning streak to four straight, going back to the three-straight they had before they went to Miami to play in a series of games last week, the Caribs ended up losing their fourth straight, including the three in Florida against international teams.

“We just have to believe that we can win games and play like we want to win,” Rolle said. “We have the talent, we have good players, but I’m just not sure that we believe that we can win the close games.

“We just have to learn to win the close games and that will only happen when we come together as a unit. It’s a real pity that we are still struggling in that regard, but I hope that we can one day put it all together.”

Justin Smith canned a game high 31 points with seven steals, five rebounds and four assists to pace COB. Reuben Goodman came off the bench and added 13 points and three rebounds, Anthony Sands had nine points, six rebounds and three assists, Alvano Laing had eight points and 15 rebounds and Justin Munroe had six points and seven rebounds.

Cleaners 78,

Rebels 68

Jorann Adderley scored a side high 20 points with 11 rebounds and seven assists to pace the Double R Services to victory. Tamiko King had 19 points and 10 rebounds off the bench, Dax Evans had 14 points and nine rebounds and Tevin Gray had 12 points and 10 rebounds.

For Rhythm, Devon Brennen scored a game high 24 points with 13 rebounds, Craig Buchanan had 14 points, three rebounds and three assists, Andrew King had 11 points, seven rebounds and seven assists and both Andrew Williams and Whitfield Bryan both had seven points and 11 and 10 rebounds respectively.