The Court Pacesetters drew first blood in the finals of the Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association Pepsi Street Playoff Series with a 74-70 point win against the Ravens last night at the Burnham basketball court.
The teams went hard on both ends of the court in their bid to snatch the essential game-one win in the best of three finals of the Series’ open category, but in the end it was the Pacesetters who emerged the victors as the game came to a nail-biting end.
The Pacesetters took control of the first two periods of the game as they broke away with a 10-point lead (25-15) at the end of the first quarter and maintained their momentum throughout the second even though they faced increased pressure from the Ravens.
In previous games leading up to the finals the Ravens had launched a late attack in many instances while trailing their opponents and last night was no different. Ravens began their offensive in the second period, but turned up the heat in the third quarter backed by their supporters, who fueled their side with chants of ‘defence’.
With their supporters behind them, Ravens advanced from trailing by eight (37-45) at halftime to leading by four (58-54) by the start of the final quarter.
Neither team was letting up as the scores were levelled at 65 with four minutes remaining. As they continued to trade baskets the scores remained level on 69 with one minute remaining in the game.
Supporters from both teams were now fully into the game as the final minute expired and the bench players were practically off their seats as Ravens’ Forward, Ryan Gullen pushed his team back into a one point lead (70-69) from the free throw line with 26 seconds remaining.
Pacesetters’ Guard, Travis Burnett also displayed some accuracy from the line by levelling the scores on 70 with his first shot after being fouled, but would not regret missing the second free throw as Pacesetters’ Centre, Royston Siland snatched the rebound and put the Pacesetters up by two with his put-back basket.
Burnett was at the centre of attention once again with less than 10 seconds remaining as he picked up a steal from Ravens’ offence on centre court and placed the nail in the coffin when he converted with a fast break lay-up to give his team the four-point win.
