-Third annual NLE basketball extravaganza
It was an all Georgetown affair on the third night of action of the third annual Next Level Entertainment (NLE) basketball extravaganza continued at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH) Tuesday night as Beepat Scorpions and Nets turned back the challenges of Patriots and Alleyne’s Retrieve Raiders respectively.
In the first game Beepat Scorpions, who found their rhythm late in the game, managed to eke out a 52-51 win whilst the Nets defeated their mining town counterparts 73-42.
Patriots failed to make good use of the many ball possessions handed to them by the Scorpions who had numerous turn overs.
After racking up a seven points lead at the half (31-24), the Scorpions, led by point-guard Stefan Henry stung their opponents repeatedly to come away victorious.
Henry, who scored 13 points, single-handedly took the fight to the Patriots, even giving the fans one of his And1 displays in a coast-to-coast battle against Damien Allen in the fourth quarter.
Neil Marks scored 15 points for the Patriots.
It was clear that Marks, who scored nine of his points in the first half, was the go to man for the Patriots, but the one-on-one defence employed by the Scorpions prevented him from getting the required number of possessions in the second half. Even though Jermaine Lovell of the Scorpions and Patriots’ Alwyn Wilson were ejected for unsportsmanlike conduct with Scorpions trailing 48-50, Henry managed to nail two free throws, whilst Trevor Mc Leod scored what turned out to be the winning basket with 56-seconds left. Henry grabbed eight rebounds and received worthy support from Travis Foster (12) and Mc Leod (11) for the Scorpions who will now face the Jets in their quarter-final match tomorrow at the same venue.
Wilson scored nine points before his ejection.
In the feature game of the evening, Nets rallied from a one pint deficit at the end of the first quarter, to take an eight point lead at the half before coming away with a handsome 31 points victory, thanks to Drumson Mc Cullay’s double double.
After seeing Raiders’ Loris James and Alexander Rose who finished 12 points, dominate his team in the first quarter, an energized Mc Cullay came off the bench and made things happen for the Nets.
Ellis was strong on the inside and outside for Raiders and, along with Rose, who dropped two from beyond the arc in the first quarter, gave their team the advantage.
But Sheldon Howell scored six points for the Nets who went on an 8-0 run at the beginning of the second quarter.
Mc Cullay used his height advantage to great effect as he dominated the paint both on the offensive and defensive ends of the court.
In between, Mortimer Williams, Pelham Doris and Kester Mayers lent valuable support to Mc Cullay, with Williams hitting one from beyond the arc which, coupled with Mayers’ four unanswered points in the final 10 seconds of the second half, took the Nets into the break with the lead. The Raiders fought valiantly to stay in the game, with numerous attempts from beyond the arc which found nothing but the back of the rim or the glass on more occasions than one, whilst the ever cool Doris and Mc Cullay controlled things on the offensive end.
Mc Cullay continued where he left off after the break, even going through double teams at times and when the Raiders sought to double team him, he displayed an unselfish attitude, by sending a sweet pass Fabian Johnson, who converted the lay up.
The entire substitute bench for Nets got valuable playing time. Apart from James and Rose, no other Raiders’ player got into double figures.
Mc Cullay led all scorers with 17 points and 10 rebounds with support from Williams (13), Doris (12) and Mayers 10 points for the Nets.
