Natural Science retain controversial b/ball title

Jun 01, 2010 Sports

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– win from free-throw line in 0.06 seconds

By Edison Jefford

The Cliff Anderson Sports Hall was steaming with controversy yesterday afternoon when the Faculty of Technology lost the University of Guyana Inter-Faculty Basketball Final in 0.06 seconds after a controversial loose-ball foul call.
Technology dominated the 40-minute game before veteran statistician and referee Dennis Clarke hit Earl O’Neil with a loose-ball foul with 0.06 seconds left that sent Hugh Arthur to the foul line to complete Natural Science’s win.
Arthur nailed both free-throws to hand Natural Science their second consecutive title with a 70-69 points win. The Courts Pacesetters point guard finished with 30 points with help from Stryon Obermuller, 13 and Samuel Thompson 12 points.
The heartbreak for Technology resulted in Rudy James being hit with a technical foul in a tense finish to an exciting game, which changed in the final two minutes when poor shooting from the free-throw line in crunch-time denied Technology.
Richard Mohandatt finished with 28 points while O’Neil had 12 points for the faculty that Natural Science also defeated in the preliminary round. However, they returned yesterday with a spirited effort before a fundamental shooting flop.
Technology went up 66-60 in the last minute of regulation time when Mohandatt buried a couple of free shots, but Arthur raced the ball down the offensive end and finished an up-and-under lay-up that also created an ‘And-One’ chance.
Arthur made no mistake with the shot, which helped Natural Science close the deficit 64-66 with 38 seconds left to play. The team then fouled Ryburen Weever, and the drama started to unfold with an interesting plot.
Weever missed both crunch-time shots and Arthur was placed on the free-throw line with only ten seconds off the clock. He made one of two, narrowed the lead to one and made a simple foul on O’Neil top keep Natural Science in the game.
Technology’s vocal supporters erupted when O’Neil hit both shots, but the celebration in the stands halted when Obermuller drove the ball undefended to finish a front rim lay-up at the northern end, keeping Natural Science down only one.
Weever was again the target of a foul. This time, the shots were even more critical and the time waning.
He had 3.1 seconds on the clock and as fortune would have it, he missed the two attempts again to fuel immense enthusiasm for the opposition.
With no timeouts left for either team, brains prevailed at the premier academic institute’s basketball competition when Arthur again rushed the ball and was fouled. Arthur nailed a loner to help his team maintain the one point deficit, 69-68.
However, a single stare at the game clock revealed that only 0.06 seconds was left, which was little time to run a constructive play. After Arthur’s free shots, Trevor Abrams didn’t help Technology when he squandered two free-throws.
When the ball was tossed on to the court from out-of-bounds, Technology started to beam from the stands, assuming that they had won. However, their celebration drowned Dennis Clarke’s whistle, which was going off with the foul call.
The call ended Technology’s dreams of clinching the elusive inter-faculty basketball title that is usually shared between Natural Science and Social Science. They were clearly the most dominant team in 38 of the 40-minute game duration.
Abrams put-back in the first half sent them up 11-2 as James and O’Neil made work hard for Natural Science offensively from the paint. Their only worry, after the first half of the period, was their 17 team fouls, which was one short of the penalty.
The foul trouble for Technology tentatively opened up Natural Sciences offence since the opposing defenders could not touch them because of their foul trouble. Obermuller nailed a big jumper to tie the game at 16-16, five minutes before halftime.
However, James, O’Neil and Jamohl Alexander fast-break plays helped Technology take back the offensive edge with a 23-16 lead. The first half ended 26-21 in favour of Natural Science as the final took officially became a close challenge. The offensive chemistry worked for Natural Science early in the second half when Arthur finished a lay-up, Semyon Fung a big three-pointer and Obermuller went coast-to-coast at a flash to again tie the game at 32 after the first five minutes.
Thompson finished two consecutive assists from Obermuller and Arthur respectively that help Natural Science to their first lead in the game at 38-32. However, Gregory Williams’ big three-point jumper stopped Natural Science’s offensive run.
The two teams then exchanged points before Technology went on a 26-7 that left Natural Science panting. However, Thompson’s parameter jump shots initiated a huge come-back that climaxed with the nail-biting with for Natural Science.

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