The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS 

Senior Sports Reporter 

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE New Providence Basketball Association’s division II championship is all set, while the men’s division one has taken an interesting twist in their semi-final series after their games over the weekend.

On Saturday night at the AF Adderley Gymnasium, the Breezes High Flyers and Johnson’s Truckers Panchos booked their tickets to the division II showdown in the final.

The High Flyers dethroned the defending champions Athletico Bahamas 77-51 to complete a 2-1 series edge, while the Truckers advanced past the Hype Basketball Club 74-60 to also finish off a 2-1 series. Their championship series will get underway on Friday night.

By then, the NPBA is hoping that they will have the two teams matched up to play in the division one final.

On Saturday night, the Mail Boat Cybots rebounded to win 86-81 against the Real Deal Shockers after losing game one on Friday night 108-104 to pull even at 1-1 in the Vince Ferguson League.

Game three is set for 7pm tonight.

In the feature game at 8:30pm, Commonwealth Bank Giants could advance to the final if the Mr Ship It Freight Regulators don’t win. On Friday night, the Giants took a 2-0 lead in the John Archer League series with a 91-88 victory.

• Here’s a summary

of the games played:

Cybots 86,

Shockers 81

Lerecus Armbrister came up with one of his best games on Saturday, leading the Mail Boat with 24 points on 7-for-18 from the field and 9-for-13 from the charity line with a three-pointer in 26 minutes as they sailed to victory. Armbrister, the flashy guard, also had four rebounds, four steals and two assists.

Livingston Munnings was a tower of strength as he threw down his anchor in the paint with 16 points, 19 rebounds, five blocked shots, four steals and two assists, Jeremy Hutchinson had 13 points and 14 rebounds, Delvonne Duncombe had nine points and six rebounds, Dominique Beadle had nine points and five rebounds and Ernest Saunders had eight points, four assists and three rebounds.

In a losing effort, William Rigby went 8-for-19 from the field, 5-for-13 from the three-point line and 1-for-2 from the foul line for 22 points and 16 rebounds.

Crosley Wilmore came off the bench with 15 points and four rebounds, Kamal Murphy had 14 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, Floyd Armbrister also came off the bench with 10 points, four rebounds and three steals and Antario Collie chipped in with eight points.

The Mail Boat got a 27-4 points difference from turnovers, but they were both even with 32 points in the paint. The Mail Boat, however, got 30-26 points off the bench and held a 65-61 advantage in rebounds and they made just 15 turnovers, compared to 27 by the Shockers.

Shockers 108,

Cybots 104

In what was anticipated as an exciting series, the Real Deal took the initial game in an offensive showdown on Friday. They led 21-19 at the end of the first quarter, 46-42 at the half and 78-72 after three quarters.

Salathiel Dean, in 33 minutes, had 27 points and nine rebounds to lead the way.

William Rigby had 15 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, Lamont Armaly also had 15 points with eight assists, four rebounds and three steals, Kamal Murphy had 13 points and Jackson Dalmon had 10 points and nine rebounds.

In a losing effort for the Mail Boat, Livingstone Munnings played 31 points off the bench and came up with game high honours of 28 points, 23 rebounds and eight blocked shots.

Adrian Miller also had 18 points off the bench, Ernest Saunders had 16 points, nine assists, eight rebounds and three steals, Delvonne Duncombe 14 points and six rebounds and Jervonne Atkins, Dominique Beadle and Cordero Pinder all contributed six points.

Giants 91,

Regulators 88

At the beginning, many expected this to be a humdinger, but Commonwealth Bank cashed in a comfortable lead in the series as they went up 2-0.

The Giants opened a comfortable 22-11 rout in the first quarter and pushed their halftime lead to 51-28. The Regulators made a run for it, chipping the deficit to 72-66 at the end of the third and they used a 22-19 spurt in the fourth to come close.

Jeffrey Henfield, in 32 minutes, paid big dividends with 19 points and six rebounds to lead the attack. Mark Hanna came off the bench with 18 points and four rebounds, Michael Bain had 14 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and three steals and David Taylor had 11 points, four assists and three steals.

Gibran Smith had seven points and Karon Pratt chipped in with six as they both came off the bench.

In 37 minutes, Eugene Bain exploded for 34 points and 21 rebounds, both game high honours. Simon Cruz had 16 points, Patrick Brice 10 points and five assists, Renaldo Baillou had 10 points and Gameliel Rose had eight points and seven rebounds.

High Flyers 77,

Athletico 55

Jeremy Neely was on cruise control in 29 minutes as he shot 12-for-20 from the field and 5-for-9 from the three-point line for a game high 29 points with eight assists, five rebounds and three steals to pace the attack for Breezes.

DeVontee Gibson also balanced out the trip as he stepped up big time with 16 points, seven rebounds, five steals and three blocked shots. Jurdon Rahming had 11 points and Shanton Pratt had eight points, six rebounds and as many assists.

Gregory Seymour scored 21 points, shooting 8-for-25 from the field and 5-for-13 from the foul line in 31 minutes to lead Athletico. Seymour also had 12 rebounds before fouling out.

Henrick Sands had 11 points and seven rebounds, Walter Charlton had 10 points and four rebounds and Shakiel Brown added nine points and four assists.

The Flyers outscored Athetico 38-26 in the paint and came up with a 23-9 advantage on points from turnovers. The Flyers also had a 17-11 difference in points off the bench.

Breezes blew out Athletico 38-26 in points in the paint, 23-9 in points off turnovers and 17-11 in points of the bench. However, Athletico outrebounded the High Flyers 36-35, but they made 26 turnovers, compared to just 17 by their opponents.

Johnson’s 74,

Hype Basketball 60

In what was a close game for three quarters, Johnson’s went into over drive with a 22-12 rout in the fourth to drive off with the series. They led 19-14 at the end of the first quarter, but Hype Basketball cut it to 36-30 at the half. In the third quarter, Hype Basketball trimmed it to 52-48.

Christoff Stuart, playing 32 minutes, ignited their scoring machine with 22 points on 11-for-15 from the field with a three-pointer and a free throw to lead Johnson’s. Stuart also roared up to pull down 17 rebounds.

Tyrell Griffin had 16 points, seven rebounds, five assists and four steals, Horris McKenzie had 15 points and 14 rebounds, Cordero Coakley had seven points and our rebounds and Franz Smith Jr had six points and six rebounds.

For Hype Basketball, Christian Johnson had 14 points, six assists and three rebounds, Philton Pickstock had 12 points and eight rebounds, Dave Davis had 11 points and eight rebounds, Samuel Dean had eight points and Christoph McKenzie added seven points.Johnson’s held a 50-26 advantage on points scored in the paint and they led 10-2 in points from turnovers. They also had a 33-29 difference in rebounds and the Truckers finished with just six turnovers, compared to 10 by Hype Basketball.