POSTED BY: Eurobasket News
Ian Young
(By Kelsie Johnson, Nassau Guardian)
The four-point loss handed to The Bahamas senior men's national basketball team by Trinidad and Tobago yesterday evening, crushed all hopes of the squad for qualifying for the Centro Basket Championships next year. The team was faced with a must-win situation after losing a 13-point lead in the final minutes to Jamaica on Wednesday.
Once again, the closing minutes of the game proved to be a nightmare for Team Bahamas, as they fell to Trinidad & Tobago, 86-82, at the Caribbean Basketball Confederation (CBC) Championships being played in Tortola, British Virgin Islands.
The Bahamas had control of the game but faltered in the final three minutes allowing their opponents to go on a 6-0 run. The team was only able to add two points to their six-point lead in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter.
Assistant coach Mario Bowleg strongly believes that Team Bahamas is the best in the tournament and can compete with any team in the region, however it was noted that they (the coaching staff and team) must work on closing games so they can move on.
Bowleg said: 'Well it was a must-win situation for us, we knew and still believe that we are the best team in this tournament just that for some strange reason we execute very poorly in the fourth quarter. We are unable to make free throws and put the ball in the hole when it really counts, that is the result for the last three games we played.
'We were fortunate enough to beat Barbados in the first game but Jamaica, the downfall was in the fourth quarter. We couldn't execute and put the ball in the hole, and the same thing happened in this game. Going into this game we just wanted to win. Once we won we would have made the semi-finals, but that didn't happen.'
With three minutes remaining in regulation, Bahamian Quentin Hall (174-G-77, agency: Promotex, college: Gonzaga) ended the shooting drought with a jump shot which gave the team a four-point lead. That would be the last shot made by Team Bahamas until Alonzo Alonzo Hinds (183-G-84, college: Midland CC)' two successful free throws taken with 1:36 remaining. By this time, Team Bahamas was down by two points.
Taking control for Trinidad & Tobago was Ian Young (191-G-81, college: Auburn), and taking control of the boards was Young's teammate Wilfred Benjamin (201-F/C-84, college: Marist), passing it over to Steven Lewis (193-F). Lewis' two point attempt sailed off the back of the rim into the hands of Bahamian Cordero Seymour (196-F-86) who was later charged with an offensive foul. The foul sent Young to the free throw line with just 36 seconds remaining. The two successful free throws gave Trinidad and Tobago a four-point lead and forced Team Bahamas to call a full time-out.
The designed play out of the time-out was for Scott Forbes to launch from behind the three-point line, but he came up short and pulled down his own rebound. His follow-up shot missed and the rebound landed into the hands of Julius Ashby (205-F/C-82, college: Colorado). The Bahamas quickly fouled Ashby hoping to buy a little more time on the clock, which was ticking away fast.
The Bahamas closed the game with 29 rebounds, 15 assists, five steals and one block shot. They turned over the ball 12 times and committed 21 personal fouls. The team was outscored in the paint by Trinidad and Tobago, 38-22.
Hall led the way for Team Bahamas with 24 points and seven assists. Alonzo Hinds chipped in with 21 points and four rebounds while Doyle Hudson (203-F/C-84, college: Roane State JC) added 11 points.
'We still have to play for positioning,' added Bowleg. 'The playoffs start tomorrow and based on the standings right now if Barbados beats Jamaica tonight we may finish third in our pool and cross over with the fourth place team in the next pool.
'A win there will take us into another game on Friday to play for a fifth spot which we feel as though we can win. The guys believe, just like the entire coaching staff, that we were the best team even though we didn't play well. I don't think that it has shaken the team. We have spoken to the guys and asked them to finish the tournament strong because with these tournaments some countries may be in a financial bind and may not be able to make it to the next round so the remaining teams are invited. We can only hope that this takes place next year for Centro because I do believe that teams deserve another chance. They've worked hard, and we now know what we need to work on.'
No results were available for the game between Jamaica and Barbados up to press time.
