By BRENT STUBBS
Senior Sports Reporter
bstubbs@tribunemedia.net
FLORIDA Memorial University Lions found a way to roar with a slim and a sizeable victory in their two-game series against the College of the Bahamas Caribs men’s basketball team.
Playing in the “Battle Against Cancer” exhibition games over the weekend at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium, the Lions came into town and left with a 83-82 double overtime decision on Friday and a 69-49 rout on Saturday.?
First-year coach Artis Maddox said it was a good learning experience for him and his Lions. “I enjoyed it. The guys really enjoyed it. We got a chance to see this beautiful island called Nassau,” said Maddox as he tried to put their trip into perspective.
As for the two games, Maddox said it was more than they had anticipated. “I think in the first game, we didn’t run our offence. The College of the Bahamas did a good job of taking us out of our offence,” Maddox said. “But I just told them that we just need to believe in ourselves, run our offence and we will win.”
Maddox said he was so impressed with the entire trip that he is already looking at plans to come back next year with an even bigger entourage.
With the home crowd on their side, the Caribs were looking to shake off their gruelling, heartbreaking double overtime loss to the Lions on Friday. But coach Baacus Rolle admitted that they were not prepared as they should have been to play at that level.
“I’m disappointed in the way we lost tonight (Saturday),” Rolle said. “I don’t think we brought the heart that we played with in game one. But overall, it was a learning experience.
“We saw some things that we could have done differently. But in my opinion, we just didn’t bring the aggressiveness that we had the first night. We were shorthanded after our power forward and captain got hurt and we shortened up the rotation a bit.”
Not making any excuses, Rolle said it was clear that the Caribs were not only shaken up but banged up after Friday night. Based on what transpired, he felt they needed another day to fully recover.
With a slightly new team from last year, Rolle said he is still working through finding a cohesive unit to start and come of the bench. They intend to play again on November 16 before they head to South Carolina on November 19 to play in a series of games.
Lions 83, Caribs 82
Shaquille Harding canned a jumper with 13 seconds left on the clock in the second extra period to help secure the series opener for FMU on Friday night.
The Caribs had a chance to win the game at the end of the first extra period, but Davonte Byrd came through with a jumper with 53 seconds remaining to extend the game a little longer for the fans.
In both periods, the Caribs had their chances to pull it off, but they missed golden opportunities down the stretch.
Samuel Derismond led the attack for FMU with 19 points and seven rebounds; Harding and Aundre Reid Jr both finished with 15 points and four and three rebounds respectively and Davonte Byrd chipped in with 10 points and eight rebounds.
For COB, Justin Smith had a game high 20 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and five steals; Kemsy Sylvestre had 11 points, five rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots and Rashad Sturrup had 10 points and seven rebounds. Justin Munrioe (11 rebounds) and Anthony Sands had eight points and Ramon Dames, Alvano Laing and Davon Adderley Jr all contributed seven.
The Caribs led 20-12 after the first quarter, but FMU stormed back for a 35-29 advantage at the half. The Lions went up 53-46 at the end of the third, but the Caribs fought back to tie 67-67 to force overtime.
Although the game was keenly contested, FMU held a 25-19 edge in points from turnovers, 26-18 on points in the paint, 12-10 on second chance points and 35-28 in points of the bench. They also out-rebounded COB 55-51, but both teams held as much as an 11-point lead.
Lions 69, Caribs 49
What started out as a close encounter from the night before turned out to be a lopsided affair in the second half as Florida Memorial University proved too strong for the College of the Bahamas in the finale on Saturday night.
Tymon Enwerama led three players in double figures with 14 points and four rebounds for the Lions. Samuel Derismond added 11 points and Travis Mitchell had 10 points. Aundre Braziel and Shaquille Harding both had nine points with eight and six rebounds respectively.
For the Caribs, first-year player Kemsy Sylvestre pumped in 16 points with 10 rebounds. Justin Smith shared in the game high honours with 16 points. But outside that, the next two highest scorers were Anthony Sands and Ramon Dames with four apiece.
COB could not use captain Alvano Laing, whose left hand was in a sling after he was injured the night before. Laing is expected to be out of action for the next two weeks. The Caribs trailed 15-10 after the first quarter and 34-27 at the half. But after they went into the locker room, the Lions came out firing on all cylinders as they surged ahead 52-38 at the final break and they were never threatened in the fourth period.
The Lions, who took advantage of their height, out-rebounded the Caribs 44-35 and went on a 21-4 rout in points from turnovers and 23-6 on second chance points to completely dominate the game. They opened their biggest lead with a 20-point rout in the third quarter and their bench was just as impressive, out-scoring COB 39-10.
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