Tridents edge Cavs for champion of champions - Aug 19, 2010 (by Justin Marville)
SO STATION HILL can lose overtime games after all.
Title contests at that.
Mark Bridgeman had a Premier League career best 28 points as the upstart Sagicor Tridents added basketball's champion of champions title to their knockout crown after Saturdays 92-88 extra-time decision over league champs Mpact Cavaliers at the Barbados Community College [read more]
SO STATION HILL can lose overtime games after all. Title contests at that. Mark Bridgeman had a Premier League career best 28 points as the upstart Sagicor Tridents added basketball's champion of champions title to their knockout crown after Saturdays 92-88 extra-time decision over league champs Mpact Cavaliers at the Barbados Community College. Irony couldn't prove any crueler for the Cavs, whose epic league championship came on the basis of three last-second victories - two of which went into overtime. And the most recent of those occurred only two nights previous at the same venue with the exact score-line. But the Kelvin Patterson-less Cavs were probably grateful just to have forced the extra period, considering Tridents' prior 15-point fourth quarter lead (70-55) and the subsequent 77-67 advantage they held with 4:10 to play. The schoolboys managed to squander that though, turning over the ball three straight times and wasting five ensuing possessions to go scoreless for four minutes while giving up ten unanswered points. Tridents themselves were fortunate not to have surrendered a Station Hill advantage, as the Cavs had two separate opportunities to take the lead inside the final 30 seconds. But Daniel Lovell gave Kevin Sealy's potential go-ahead lay-up the LeBron James treatment, emphatically blocking it from behind before Corey Williams also split what would have been the game-winning free throws. They proved significant let-offs for Lovell, who missed one of two at the line to put his side up 78-77 with 16 seconds remaining prior to needlessly fouling Williams on the very next play. However, the schoolboys werent about learning from previous mistakes, squandering yet another crucial advantage (87-82) late in the extra period on the heels of two needless turnovers. Those didn't prove costly though, as Andre Holder broke an 88 all deadlock on a short jump hook with 16 seconds left, before successive Cavs turnovers led to Akeem Supa Williams decisive free-throws. It was the thrilling finish to a game that nearly matched the drama of last weeks epic Lakers-Cavs finals. There wasn't the standing room only crowd, but spectators were constantly on their feet nonetheless following a first half that featured six rim-rattling dunks. They began with Marlon Bascombe's throw-down in transition, before the Cavs swingman got setup by 'Supa's' behind-the-back pass which led to him getting dunked on by Lovell. The gesture was soon repaid to Lovell's team-mate Aamir Morris, after Ricardo Yearwood emphatically finished over the top of the gangly six-foot-six forward. Lost in the melee was Bridgeman's 11-point first quarter, fashioned on a perfect four of four shooting from the field inclusive of three treys.
Lovell finished with 17 points and Dario Cumberbatch added 11 in the victory, while Junior Moore top-scored for the Cavs with 17.
Cavs clinch crown after Game 4 OT - Aug 14, 2010 (by Justin Marville)
THE EPIC FINALS didn't get its classic fifth game.
A fourth extra period was more than enough.
The series' second overtime game ended with Mpact Station Hill Cavaliers' second successive title, as the champs capped an historic 3-1 triumph in basketball's greatest Premier League finals following Thursday's 92-88 thriller over Lumber Company Lakers at the Barbados Community College [read more]
THE EPIC FINALS didn't get its classic fifth game. A fourth extra period was more than enough. The series' second overtime game ended with Mpact Station Hill Cavaliers' second successive title, as the champs capped an historic 3-1 triumph in basketball's greatest Premier League finals following Thursday's 92-88 thriller over Lumber Company Lakers at the Barbados Community College. It was the fitting finish to an epic rivalry that had already featured a triple overtime marathon and another last-second nail-biter in the series first two games alone. All that was missing from the club's fourth successive postseason matchup was a decisive fifth game. But Corey Williams robbed the classic finals of its deserving Game 5, dramatically scoring 18 of a series-best 30 points in the fourth and extra periods after hitting one big shot after another. None were bigger than the game-tying free throw line jumper with 19 seconds left in regulation which eventually forced the extra period. If not as crucial though, the step-back jumper over Jamar King was equally as dramatic, as Williams was also responsible for putting the Cavs ahead for good (88-85) with 1:35 to play in overtime. Both clutch jumpers proved the crowning moments of two separate individual runs, where the diminutive floor general seemingly found a way to put the champs on his shoulders. 'I just had to find a way to thank the coach for allowing me to prove that I am one of the best in Barbados,' commented Williams, who didnt even tally 30 points from the previous three games. The first run - the basis of Station Hill's 9-4 rally in the dying moments of the fourth - came as Williams accounted for the last nine Cavs points in regulation which overturned a telling 75-70 deficit with 1:40 remaining. It began with a pair of free throws, included a reverse lay-up followed by a lead-changing trey, before the national point guard was forced to reply to two straight Lakers baskets with the game-tying jumper. That possession started badly, with Jason Smith taking a heavily-contested fade-away, but ended well when Lakers couldn't grab the ensuing rebound and the ball fatefully bounced to an unmarked Williams at the charity stripe. The second - the spark for an 11-3 Cavs surge - came as Station Hill faced another deficit, this time an 85-81 hole that followed two Matthew Moore jumpers and Andre Lockhart's free throws early in overtime. But Williams countered once more, sinking a banker and two free throws of his own prior to the long-range step-back that finally finished Lakers comeback hopes. Lakers centre Andr Boadu made good on two free throws though, and King split a pair at the line, before a questionable out-of-bounds call gave Lakers 40 seconds to erase Cavs 89-88 advantage. But the Husbands men got an equally dubious no call at the other end, forcing them to send Kevin Sealy to the line with ten seconds to play. It proved their last undoing as they never fully recovered the rebound off the second missed attempt, leading to a fateful turnover which Smith eventually converted into the game-sealing free throws. Kelvin Patterson assisted Williams with 17 points and 11 rebounds, Smith added 14 and Sealy finished with 11 for the Cavs, who won their fourth title in seven years and sixth league crown since 1988. 'This championship feels great and with this type of rivalry hopefully we can both get back here to make it another of those fantastic series again,' said head coach Adrian Craigwell.
For the Lakers, who beat the Cavs in the 2007 and 2008 finals, Lockhart top-scored with 18 after going 12 for 13 at the line; Boadu had 12; while King, Ian Alexander and Keefe Birkett all scored 11.
PUT AWAY THE BROOMS.
And hold off on another Station Hill coronation.
This Lakers-Cavs drama still has one more chapter left.
Keefe Birkett had 12 of his game-high 23 points in the first quarter as the Lumber Company Lakers avoided a three-game sweep in basketball's Premier League finals with a series-saving 82-61 victory over defending champs Mpact Station Hill Cavaliers in Sundays Game 3 at the Wildey Gym [read more]
PUT AWAY THE BROOMS. And hold off on another Station Hill coronation. This Lakers-Cavs drama still has one more chapter left. Keefe Birkett had 12 of his game-high 23 points in the first quarter as the Lumber Company Lakers avoided a three-game sweep in basketball's Premier League finals with a series-saving 82-61 victory over defending champs Mpact Station Hill Cavaliers in Sundays Game 3 at the Wildey Gym. It didn't provide the thrilling finish that has defined this epic match-up thus far, but it certainly gave Lakers the result they needed after losing the Game 1, a triple overtime marathon and the last-second Game 2 nail-biter. There wasn't a Husbands heartbreak this time around, not after Lakers led from pillar to post following Birketts torrid start, which included a pair of treys in the sides 25-point first-quarter performance. But if the Husbands men were clinically proficient offensively, they were equally efficient at the other end, as the switch to a 2-3 zone finally nullified the advantage in the paint that the Cavs have held all series. Previously a dominant unit, Station Hills frontline of Kelvin Patterson, Andrew Alleyne and Junior Moore accounted for just ten first-half points on a combined five of 13 shooting, while Lakers initial 20-8 lead quickly became a 33-20 advantage. Technical fouls from head coach Adrian Craigwell and Marlon Bascombe in the second quarter, and Junior Moore in the third, didn't help matters either, as Jamar King led a 6-1 surge to end the half before the lead ballooned to a 46-29 cushion on the other side of the break. The Cavs threatened late in the third with Jason Smith and Corey Williams hitting four late treys between them to pull Station Hill within ten points (63-53). However, they were only in response to Adrian Allman and Birkett's own quartet of long-bombs as the champs never got under the double-digit deficit. And the rout soon followed after reserve forward Ormond Haynes emphatically denied Jamai Puckerin, leading to a 19-9 Lakers run to finish the proceedings while Station Hill managed only 11 fourth-quarter points. King finished with 15 points, Allman added ten and Patterson topscored for the Cavs with 18. The series - the clubs fourth successive post-season meeting - shifts to the Barbados Community College for Game 4 on Thursday night.
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