Wismar Pistons and Georgetown’s Scorpions completed easy wins at the Mackenzie Hardcourt Saturday night to set up challenges with Kings and Berbice respectively in the quarter-final round of the Next Level nation-wide first division tournament.
Quincy Jones put in a double/double performance with 10 points and 17 boards to lead the Pistons past Bulls 57-46 in the first game. Marvin Tyrell scored 10 points to help Jones send home the team’s counter-part.
Bulls’ Terrence James’ double/double effort of 14 points and 14 rebounds was to no avail after the team led 17-15 in the first quarter of the game. Ruel Mckinnon finished with 11 points for Bulls.
In the second and feature game, Beepat’s Scorpions took apart Retrieve Raiders of Linden in the second half of the game to record a 66-51 victory after Raiders held a one-point (22-21) lead at half-time.
Carl Jackman completed a double/double with 10 points and 12 rebounds for Scorpions while Neil Marks entered 24 points for Raiders. Scorpions will play Berbice for a semi-final spot.
Scorpions’ venom should be extremely lethal from this stage of the tournament with all likelihood of making the final four. Pistons will face the top team in Linden, Kings in their quarter-final duel.
Meanwhile, Bounty Colts met U-Mobile Jets last night in the first game while Georgetown’s number one-seed, Courts Pacesetters, were to play East Coast in the feature game of the double-header.
The winners of last night’s game will play each other for a semi-final spot, where they will either meet Berbice or Scorpions. The floodgates are wide open and the $250,000 first place prize can go to any of the teams.
However, with Kings’ clinical demolition of East Coast Friday night, it is clear that the defending champions want to send a clear message to the other teams in the tournament from around Guyana.