Latest update April 4th, 2025 6:13 AM
Pacesetters, Raiders set up G/town vs. Linden semi-final showdown tonight
-Mackeson Road to Mecca III reaches Final Four
By Edison Jefford
Pacesetters and Linden’s Retrieve Raiders set up a semi-final showdown
Pacesetters and national point guard, Travis Burnett (left) beats Bulls’ Michael Turner and Kevin Easton to the rim Friday night for an easy lay-up at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
tonight with respective quarterfinal wins in the National Basketball Championships: Mackeson Road to Mecca III at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
Raiders were the first team to qualify for tonight’s Final Four clash, which begins at 7pm, with a 69-61 win against Victory Valley Royals Friday night. Raiders’ ‘big men’ bulldozed Royals with centre, Jason Alonzo putting up 25 points and 11 rebounds and forward, Dwayne Roberts scoring 23 points and 10 rebounds for double-doubles.
Royals’ forward, Harold Adams finished with 12 points and nine rebounds while guard, Marlon Pollydore and Ron Beckles both had nine points. Both Chris Williams and Orlando Glasgow had off-nights, which affected Royals’ offence.
In the second game of the night, Pacesetters defeated Linden’s Half Mile Bulls 88-79 with guard, Travis Burnett unleashing a brutal offensive assault that proved unstoppable. Burnett dumped in 31 points and dished nine assist to lead Pacesetters to the Final Four.
Shooting guard, Stephon Gillis was clinical from three-point range. He made five big shots in his 19 points. Forward, Randy Richardson, a double-double machine, completed another one with 15 points and 16 rebounds.
For Bulls, shooting guard, Keifer Tappin scored 19 points while guards Terron Welch and Kevin Easton had 13 and 10 points respectively. Tappin made a huge three-point jumper late in the fourth quarter that helped Bulls pull within five (76-81) before Easton followed up with another jumper from beyond the arc to give them real hope.
However, turnover after turnover kept Bulls out of contention in crunch-time as Burnett finished easy plays. Earlier in the game, Welch had helped Bulls to 11-7 lead midway through the first quarter, but Gillis nailed back-to-back three-point jumpers to regain the advantage.
Pacesetters went on a 13-3 run to close out the first quarter leading 20-15; Gillis shot Pacesetters to a halftime 45-36 lead. Burnett continued to score at will in third period, putting Pacesetters up 55-43 with a classic baseline layup.
Pacesetters maintained their offensive advantage throughout the last half of the game and scratch marked Welch which made it difficult for him to score. Welch had poured in a massive 39 points in his first game. Pacesetters played excellent defence on him.
Defending champions, Pacesetters and Linden’s number one ranked Raiders will play for a place in Saturday’s Final tonight. The two teams will play in the feature game at 9pm. The other Super Eight clash was held last night with the winners playing in the first game tonight from 7pm at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
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