Defending champions Linden Technical Institute (LTI) made a successful start to their title defence after narrowly getting past Bishops’ High School 40-39 yesterday on day two of the National Schools Basketball Festival (NSBF) at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
Led by junior national shooting guard Orin Rose Jr., LTI squandered a seven-point lead (24-17) at the end of the first half thanks to some constant pressure by the city school.
Rose in the first half of the game showed signs of putting up huge figures as he let loose some bombs from down town.
Bishops’ in the meantime were taking the easy baskets when it came.
In the second half, they put a clamp on LTI’s primary scorer that eased the scoring a bit.
Down by one point (40-39) with 12 seconds remaining in regulation, Bishops’ opted for a long three pointer on the inbound pass which was way off the mark and allowed MTI to get the rebound and run the clock out.
Rose finished with a game-high 25 points which included four three pointers.
S. Lashley was the highest scorer for the losers with 15 points.
Meanwhile, Georgetown Technical Institute (GTI) was also victorious thrashing Saint Stanislaus College 47-28.
The tertiary institution was led by Shelroy Thomas and Darien Lewis who netted 15 and 12 points respectively.
Corlin Gittens scored eight points for Saints.
In the other under-19 match contested, Charlestown Secondary came from behind after being down 8-16, to defeat 2006 champions St Rose’s High 29-22.
Orin Amsterdam scored 13 points and Murtland Warde 12 points for Charlestown.
Jermaine Luthers was the only St. Rose’s player to post double figures.
He scored 11 points.
St Rose’s now find themselves out of the tournament after they went down to Mackenzie High School on the opening day.
Three under-15 games were contested yesterday with Plaisance Community High blowing away Marian Academy 27-10; Cummings Lodge Secondary whipping Saint Stanislaus College 54-10 and West Demerara Secondary School defeating New Campbellville Secondary 26-11.
The tournament will continue today from noon with several matches in all three categories.
