By BRENT STUBBS
Senior Sports Reporter
bstubbs@tribunemedia.net
JARAUN ‘Keno’ Burrows, one of the Bahamas’ most talented basketball players, will get a chance to play for the championship title in the French Pro B Division, the second tier level league in the country.
The 6-foot, 8-inch 220-pound forward helped Fos Provence Basket to complete a three-game sweep of their semi-final matchup Monday night and now they will have the rest of the week off as they wait to see who their opponent will be when the final gets underway on Monday.
The winner of the title will be promoted to the top ranked division one league next year.
“It was a long season, but a good season,” Burrows told The Tribune from France yesterday. “We finished as the No.3, ending the regular season on 4-5 game winning streak coming into the playoffs.
“We were rolling in the playoffs where we had all best-of-three series.
“The semi-final was a 20 sweep and the semi-final was a sweep as well. We’re getting ready for the finals on Monday and we’re hoping that the streak can continue.”
En route to getting out of the first round, Burrows said they took on the No.7 seeds and although their ranking was a little lower than expected, the team provided some stiff challenge.
But they managed to pull off the home opener and closed the door against two players whom he played against for the Bahamas in the World Cup Qualifier that featured a player from the US Virgin Islands and one from Canada.
“It was good to send them home,” Burrows quipped.
In the semis, Burrows said their opponents upset the No.2 team.
“We knew they were going to be a feisty, young team, so it was good preparation for us,” Burrows pointed out.
“We took care of business in both games. In the first game, we were up by a lot, about 41-12 and they came steamrolling back and cut it to about five as we held on for the win.
“So we knew going into the second game, we would have had a fight on our hands. We made the adjustment and went into their place and won 92-70. Now we’re getting ready for the final.”
While he scored 20 points, pulled down four rebounds, dished out two steals and blocked as many shots in Monday’s finale, Burrows pushed his average to about 20.1 points and 9.2 rebounds, around the same numbers he put up during the regular season.
He was also named the most outstanding player in both the quarter and semi-finals.
With an older team than most, at age 32, Burrows said he feels like a young boy. At least three guys are still making a significant contribution at 41, 39 and 37 respectively. “They make me feel young, but we also have a good young core of French talent to mix up the import of American players,” Burrows revealed. “So we have a collective group.”
Now that they are in the final, Burrows said the only thing left is to pull it off and hoist the trophy as the champions.
“We’re now into the final, so anything is possible,” he said. “This pro B France is no pushover. It’s tough. Night in and night pout, one team could lose to the 17th ranked team. It’s that kind of fight.”
Two other Bahamians - Zane Knowles and Michael Carey - played on the same team in the French league, while Johnathan Ferrell, played on another.
It’s expected that these players will be coming home for the next round of the Americas Qualifiers for the FIBA World Cup on June 28 against the US Virgin Islands and July 2 against the Dominican Republic.
Burrows, who was a key member of the team that played in the first two series of games in November and February here and on the road, said depending on how he feels at the end of the final, he will make a decision on his position.
“I’m a little beat up from these playoffs, so I will see how I finish up,” he projected. “If I’m not too banged up because it’s been a long 10 months. I have been home twice in that period, but I hear we have some good young talent coming in, so it would be good if we can get it done, whether I’m there or not. But I would like to be a part of it. I just have to wait and see what happens here.”
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