The Tribune

By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

The Bain and Grants Town Cybots and Airport Authority Avengers nabbed the first wins in their round one playoff matchups.

The Cybots, the Bahamas Government Departmental Basketball Association’s (BGDBA) leading team, defeated the eighth-seeded Police Royals 72-66 on Friday night. Meanwhile, the Avengers snuck away with a 87-86 nail-biter win on Saturday night against the Bamboo Shack Patrollers at the AF Adderley Gymnasium.

Cybots vs Royals

Despite matching up against the lower seeded Royals, the Cybots had their hands full until the final buzzer of their first playoff game. Both teams were evenly matched in the opening quarter of the playoffs. The game got off to a 8-4 start favouring the Cybots but the period culminated with the ball game tied 17-17. In the second period the Royals gained the advantage after outscoring the Cybots 18-16.

The game remained competitive until the final quarter of play with 18 lead changes and the score was tied 15 times.

In the final period of the game the Cybots were leading 63-58. However, at the 2:23 mark of the quarter, the Royals tied the game 64-64. They were unable to capitalise after tying the game which led to the Cybots outscoring them 20-16 in the fourth quarter for the win.

Tyrone Sands, assistant coach of the Cybots, said although they got a sloppy win, he felt the team did not play their brand of basketball.

“We have not had the opportunity to get together as a team and practice. I keep telling them hard work beats talent if talent refuses to work hard – our guys refuse to show up to practice in a timely manner and it showed tonight,” Sands said.

He added that he thinks the team is talented enough to beat any team in the league but their commitment will be the key to it happening.

The Cybots outscored their opponents 17 to 11 in second chance points. Additionally, their bench scored 30 points compared to 15 from the Royals.

Avengers vs Patrollers

After trailing for most of the game, the Avengers stole a one-point win against the Patrollers. The latter remained in control starting from the first quarter where they got out to an early 12-5 lead and closed out the quarter leading by eight (24-16).

In the following quarter, the Patrollers outscored the Avengers 18-13 which gave them a 13-point lead – just three points shy of their biggest lead, which was 16.

The Avengers mounted a comeback in the third quarter in a collective team effort with five members scoring in double digits. Cameron Chery played a pivotal role for the team scoring 19 points along with six rebounds, and three assists in the narrow win.

The fourth-seeded team trimmed the Patrollers lead down to four (61-65) to close out the third period. The Patrollers were leading 73-72 at the 5:49 mark of the game. However, with under 2:00 minutes remaining in the game, the Avengers’ Trevez Hamilton canned a big three to even the score at 82 apiece.

Following a technical foul, Hamilton drained three consecutive free throws at the charity stripe to put the Avengers up by three. In the final seconds of the game, the Patrollers were hoping for a win, leading 86-85 after a successful layup by Ivan Rolle. However, Chery thwarted their valiant efforts after he nabbed an offensive rebound following a miss by Tyler Moncur and tipped it in to seal the win for the Avengers.

Chery, small forward on the Avengers, talked about the pivotal game winning play.

“I just trusted my teammates. He went for the layup and I knew I had to be there to clean up in case it did not go in . . . we are looking to come out with more tenacity and to be more aggressive next game,” he said.

Both series will get underway tonight starting at 7:30pm.