The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

Practice makes perfect. Just ask the Mail Boat Cybots. Whenever they were not playing, win or lose, coach Wayde Watson had his Cybots in the gym preparing for their next game in the New Providence Basketball Association men’s best-of-seven championship series. Now they can look back and celebrate as the new champions.

“I feel very excited. Those guys put in a lot of work so they really deserve it,” Watson said. “Those guys stuck with me when I requested that they come to practice. So for the last three weeks, we have been going everyday, practicing today and playing tomorrow. “They deserve it. They worked very hard for it.”

The Cybots, after coming so close to pulling off a four-game sweep over the Commonwealth Bank Giants, found themselves on the verge of watching the momentum shift in the series.

But on Wednesday night at the AF Adderley Gymnasium, the Mail Boat delivered a 90-70 triumph to finish off the series with a 4-2 advantage to hoist the trophy in the air as they celebrated with the champagne popping.

“When I watched the video, I saw where we made our errors, so I felt that we had two opportunities to correct those errors, which was game six and game seven,” Watson said. “If we didn’t get to do it in game six, we would have been able to do it in game seven.

“So the issue that we complained about earlier, the league addressed it with the calls going equally on both sides and I think that played a big part in the way that we played in game six. So we were very happy that we stuck to our game plan and were able to bounce back to win when we needed to.”

The back court duo of Delvonne Duncombe (10 rebounds and six assists) and Ernest Saunders (six rebounds and five assists) came through with 20 points each. But Livingstone Munnings had another big night with 14 points, 20 rebounds, six block shots, three assists and two steals. Dario Seymour also helped out with 14 points.

“Our guards really came through. They got things going for us. They didn’t want to lose, they didn’t want to see a game seven,” Watson said. “When we had our practice, I told them that we had to focus on trying to win each quarter, but we didn’t do that until we came back from the half.”

Munnings, leading the attack on the inside in the paint on both ends of the court, was named the most valuable player, averaging 14.17 points, 16.17 rebounds, 4.17 blocks, 1.5 assists and 1.33 steals per game. He played a pivotal role, especially with the absence of Eugene Bain, who had to sit out after being ejected from game five.

“Livingstone played excellent. He played well all season,” Watson said. “Jeremy Hutchinson hurt his knee in game two of the series and and I told Livingstone that we needed more rebounds and he has to block the ball in order for us to win and he took up the challenge. When we had the missed shots, Livingstone Munnings and Cordero Pinder came up with the rebounds.

“We had a very good team effort. The bench was very supportive. But led by Livingstone Munnings and the guards, we never gave up even though the Giants started to make a run. We just kept our composure and turned things around in the second half to pull off the win.”

The Cybots will now prepare for the Bahamas Basketball Federation’s National Round Robin Tournament that will begin on Thursday at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium. Watson surprisingly has given his team a couple days off to relax and recuperate from the pressure he applied on them in the NPBA post season.

“We will come back on Sunday to start preparing for the Nationals,” he said. “Hopefully we can get to see some of the teams play before we play them, especially Grand Bahama because they are a very fantastic team. The title has been in Grand Bahama for the last two years.

“But from the beginning of the season, our goal was not just to win the New Providence Basketball Association championship, but we want to win the nationals. We know we had to get through the New Providence championship to get there. But we will take a little break and start to prepare for the nationals. We really want to win that title. We can’t let Freeport win the nationals again this year.”

In falling short of their bid to continue their winning streak, the Giants, coached by Perry Thompson Sr and Jr, was led by Mark Hanna with 26 points. Tehran Cox had 16, Quentin Demeritte 11 and David Taylor 10. But it was obvious that they missed the presence of both Michael Bain and Kevin Hinsey, who were both nursing injuries.

In winning the title, the Cybots will join the Bommer G Lady Operators, who completed the New Providence Women’s Basketball Association season with a perfect 21-0 record to win the title behind the MVP performance of offseason acquisition Phylicia Kelly.

The Cybots and the Lady Operators will compete in the nationals against the championship teams coming from the Family Islands.

Among those expected to participate are Grand Bahama, Bimini, South Andros, Eleuthera, North Andros, Exuma, Long Island and San Salvador.

Out of the list, it’s anticipated that there will be three A men’s teams, eight B men’s teams and two women’s teams, New Providence and Eleuthera. Grand Bahama may not be bringing a women’s team this year.