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Raiders rout Warriors; Guardians unravel Nets
– Sonics school UG as Mecca III intensifies
By Edison Jefford
Three more top-ranked teams comfortably advanced to the next round of the National Basketball Championships: The Road to Mecca III, Saturday night at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, which intensifies the competition in the Super Eight this weekend.
Heroic guard, Nikkoloi Smith led Plaisance Guardians to a 72-62 points win that unraveled Nets in the fourth quarter. Smith dropped 29 points and nine rebounds, with forward, Mark Richards in the mix with 10 points and six rebounds.
Pepsi Sonics’ guard, Jason Squires (right) goes right at Emanuel Archibald for a left-handed lay-up on the second night of the National Basketball Championships.
Nets good all-round effort was deflated with a palpable fourth quarter performance; guard Darian Lewis had 17 points and four rebounds, Antwan Austin 16 points and Mortimer Williams had 11 points and five rebounds for Nets in the first round contest.
In the second game of the night, Linden’s Retrieve Raiders eased pass New Amsterdam Warriors 63-44 to advance to the next round. Forward, Dwayne Roberts scored 16 points and eight boards while centre, Jason Alonzo scored 11 points and nine rebounds. A. Rose also had 11 points, and Marvin Hartman nine points.
For New Amsterdam, guard Carlos Crandon scored 10 points and grabbed five rebounds while Ramone Fodgenay had nine points and three steals.
Meanwhile, the feature game brought together two familiar foes with the Pepsi Sonics eventually schooling University of Guyana Trojans 73-64 to move into the Super Eight. Squires dropped 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds while Trevor Smith scored 15 points and seven rebounds, and
Kerwin Jackson 13 points. Earl O’Neil had a double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds.
For UG, guard Emanuel Archibald led with 23 points while forward, Ewart Smith ended with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Naylon Loncke grabbed 12 rebounds.
The two teams exchanged points until Smith landed a three-pointer to go up 24-20 eight minutes to play in the second quarter. Forwards Yannick December and Jackson finished consecutive fast break plays to push Sonics ahead 32-20 six minutes before halftime.
However, Sonics added just four points in the time compared to Trojans eight. UG run continued in the third period with Ewart Smith equalising 38-38 with a lay-up. The tussle endured between them with Sonics closing the period with a 48-46 two-point lead.
Archibald and Smith finished back-to-back fast break plays to ensure UG 58-53 lead with seven minutes to play in the fourth quarter. But Trevor Smith landed a huge three-pointer before Pepsi Sonics tied the game at 60-60 with three minutes left in regulation time.
Smith nailed another jumper that gave Sonics a 63-60 lead. UG never recovered from the slump offensively. Sonics added 10 points in two minutes compared to UG’s four points to close out an otherwise competitive game.
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