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 CARICOM 2004 best performers
With 23,0 ppg, Cuban
Geoffrey Silvestre (201-F/C-79) has been the top scorer in the last
CARICOM Championship.
Mario Davis (198-F, college:
Coll.of the Desert), from Antigua, and Ricardo, from Bahamas
followed Silvestre in the table, both with more than 17 ppg.
A.Parker, from Turks & Caikos led the best rebounders with 7,0 rpg,
followed by
Pearson Griffith (208-C-81, college:
Murray St. CC), from Barbados, with 6,4 rpg. The best assist disher
has been Cuban
Sergio Ferrer (192-G-75) with 5,0 apg, followed by Virgin Islander
Kevin Sheppard (182-G-79, college:
Jacksonville). The best 3 pts shooter has been
Allen Jemmot (192-G-80), from Cuba, who hit the 76% of the shots
attempted.
with the help of Mario Biagi
Cuba
won CARICOM 2004
June 16 Games
Final: Cuba 90 (18-22-24-26) - Barbados 77 (21-13-16-27)
Cuba: Silvestre 18, Jemmot 16, Simon 13, Ferrer and Haiti 12, Elias 11,
Guerra 6, Nunez 2, Torriente and Matos 0
Barbados: Nurse 22, Payne 12, Roach 11, Gill and Patterson 9, Griffith
4, Browne and Motaro 3, Ramsay and Foster 2
3rd Place Game: Antigua 77 (18-26-14-19) - Jamaica 60 (12-17-21-10).
5th Place Game: Bahamas 82 (17-19-13-33) - US Virgin Islands 71
(12-21-11-27)
June 15 Games:
Bahamas 86 (19-35-24-8) - Islas Turcas/Caicos 66 (10-11-22-23)
Barbados 77 (20-19-10-28) - Jamaica 75 (25-17-18-15)
Jamaica’s title hopes were shattered
on Wednesday night when Barbados men came from behind in the closing
stages to edge them 77-75 in what was undoubtedly the most exciting game
seen so far at the Senior CARICOM championships in Santiago, Cuba.
Barbados, unbeaten in their three previous games in the tournament,
started as the underdogs against a formidable Jamaica team. Most fans in
attendance at the Alejandro Eugelles multi-purpose centre had already
placed Jamaica in the finals, but someone forgot to tell the Barbados
team.
For most of the game it appeared that the fans were right in their
assessment, as Jamaica led 25-20 at the end of the first quarter, and
42-39 at halftime. Jamaica started the third quarter with a sense of
urgency, and at one stage extended their lead to 12 points as the Bajans
had no answers for Michael Kennedy and Mugabe Thomas. Just as it
appeared that Jamaica were getting ready to close the deal and book a
place in the finals, something strange happened.
The Barbados defense awoke from their slumber and proceeded to stop
Jamaican's offense on eight straight possessions. Unfortunately for the
Jamaicans, not only did Barbados shut down their offense, but they went
on a scoring spree as well. Still, after all the firework had ceased,
Jamaica still held a precarious 66-61 lead and thought they has
weathered the Bajan storm. They were obviously wrong because the worst
was yet to come.
Back-to-back three-pointers by Jeremy Gill brought Barbados to within
two points (71-69) with 0.28 seconds to go, but then came the play of
the game. Kelvin Patterson-Browne blocked Jamaica’s next shot; a shot
that would have given them a four-point advantage, and Barbados
recovered the ball. With the capacity crowd now on their feet, shooting
guard Zahir Motara came off a solid screen at the top of the arc and
buried a long-range bomb to give Barbados their first lead of the game
72-71.
From there the Jamaicans lost their composure, and to add insult to
injury, were whistled for an intentional foul. Motara calmed stepped to
the line and sank both free throws to cap his personal 5-0 run. Jamaica
never recovered, and saw their title hopes slowly fade before their
eyes.
Barbados played home team and favorites Cuba last night to determine the
2004 Senior CARICOM champions while Jamaica played Antigua in the third
place game.
Cuba 95 (31-20-26-18) - Antigua/Barbuda 64 (25-17-9-13)
Cuba: Silvestre 21, Jemmott 17, Simon
14, Torriente 13, Elias 12, Nunez 10, Haiti 6, Matos 2, Guerra, Ramirez,
Ferrer y González 0
Antigua/Barbuda: Lobby 16, Simon 10, Joshua 9, Charles y Shabazz 8.
June 14 Games:
Group A:
Antigua/Barbuda 78 (22-23-13-20) - US Virgin Islands 68 (11-23-17-17)
The Bulldogs then pulled off a major
upset when they prevailed 78-68 over last year's champions the United
States Virgin Islands.
Small forward Mario Davis led the Antiguans with 39 points and 19
rebounds, while Marlon Charles scored 16 points and grabbed 19 boards.
Barbados 67 (14-18-17-18) - Turcas/Caicos 56 (13-9-16-18)
June 13 Games:
Group A:
US Virgin Islands 99 (30-21-23-25) - Islas Turcas-Caicos 29 (6-8-6-9)
Barbados 86 (25-25-25-11) - Antigua-Barbuda 49 (11-16-7-15)
That sums up the performance of the
Barbados men’s national basketball team Saturday evening, as they won
their first game of the CARICOM Basketball Championships.
The Bajans sounded their warning as championship contenders and earned
redemption at the same time, delivering an 86-49 whipping to Antigua and
Barbuda.
The Bajans showed defending champs the United States Virgin Islands, who
they meet in a must-win second game tonight, just what they plan to
bring to the table.
Depth, intensity and hustle are important, and the boys in blue and gold
provided each, wiping away the bad memories of the championships two
years ago, when the Antiguans stunned Barbados en route to a
highest-ever fourth-place finish.
So “ready†were the Barbados team that ten of their 12 players made
their mark on the scoreboard, and the game was already decided at
half-time, when the women’s national squad, which is staying at a
different hotel 65 kilometres away, arrived to provide flag-waving
support.
Captain Victor Payne led the team in scoring with 16 points in 25
minutes, while overseas-based players Dean Browne (14) and Michael Nurse
(13) made valuable contributions. Jeremy Gill also chipped in with ten
points off the bench.
Coach Nigel Lloyd had it easy on the sidelines, as his team ran its
offence so much to perfection he did not have to call a time-out in the
first 20 minutes.
Barbados did miss their first four field attempts, and Antigua did score
their first, but that 2-0 lead was the first and last for the Antiguans.
“I was proud of the defensive intensity we brought to the game,†said
Lloyd. “We stuck with our strategy throughout the game, but more
importantly, we maintained our intensity for most of the match.
“We have to work harder on our zone defence, and we should be okay. I
know we could still play better than this, and we should get better as
the tournament goes on.â€
The Bajans brought defensive intensity, dived on the floor for loose
balls, communicated well on the court, and allowed Lloyd to sit and chat
with assistant coach Dwight Rouse, apparently already thinking ahead to
tonight’s pivotal game against the defending champs.
Antigua had one danger man, seven-footer Keith Looby, who ended up as
the only opponent in double figures, scoring 12 points.
And as a luxury for Lloyd, his second-string unit of Jeremy Gill, Zahir
Motara, Roderick Ramsey, Kelvin Patterson-Browne and Darwin Downes
executed just as well as the starters.
Group B:
Cuba 83 (19-21-19-16/ 8) - Jamaica 76 (17-24-17-17/ 1)
Jamaica national men’s basketball
team missed a chance at history on Saturday night in Santiago, Cuba when
they lost 83-76 to host Cuba in overtime. In front of a partisan crowd
at the Alejandro Eugelles multi-purpose centre, Jamaica gave up the
tying basket with just 0.18 seconds left in regulation, then was
outscored 8-1 in overtime as action kicked off in the 17th Senior
CARICOM Basketball Tournament.
Jamaica can blame no one but themselves for their failure to beat Cuba
for the first time as they missed 16 of 30 free throws, shot just 47%
from the field, and committed an astounding 25 turnovers. This put
Jamaica in a must win situation when they face Bahamas on Sunday. If
they beat Bahamas, they also have to hope Cuba does the same in order
for Jamaica to make it to Wednesday’s semifinals. Damion Staples 18
points, Mugabe Thomas 13, and Michael Kennedy 11 led the scoring for
Jamaica.
Cuba: Silvestre 30, Jemmot 15, Ferrer 10, Simon 8, Haiti y Elias 6,
Nunez y Guerra 4, Matos, González y Torriente 0
Jamaica: Garth 18, Musia 13, Fitzgerald 11, Shelton 9, Emerson y Saunder
8, Ronald 7, Delano 2, Kwasi 0
June 12 Games:
Group A:
Antigua/Barbuda 82 (17-20-18-27) - Turcas/Caicos 61 (21-10-8-22)
Antigua & Barbuda's Wadadli Bulldogs
are through to the semi-finals of the Caricom Men's Basketball
Championships in Cuba.
After losing their opening encounter to Barbados 58-95, the Bulldogs
rebounded to win their other two preliminary group matches to advance to
the semi-finals.
Inspired by guard Marlon "Buju" Charles, the Antiguan beat the Turks &
Caicos Islands 81-61.
Group B:
Jamaica 65 (19-22-13-11) - Bahamas 62 (12-13-21-16)
Barbados 72 (20-23-16-13) - US Virgin Islands 64 (23-4-16-21).
Group B:
Cuba 88 (27-18-24-19) - Bahamas 77 (18-15-22-22)
Cuba: Silvestre 23, Jemmott 17, Nunez
12, Elias 11, Torriente 8, Simon 7, Ferrer 5, Haiti 2, Guerra, Ramirez y
González 1, Matos 0
Bahamas: Hall 23, Moss 22, Pierre 9
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