The New Amsterdam Warriors convincingly defeated long time rivals, Rose Hall Panthers 77-35 as the Mashramani basketball tournament continued at the New Amsterdam basketball court on Saturday.
The Warriors-Panthers matchup, which was the second game of the tournament, was interrupted by rain, but shots from the Warriors were the only thing that rained down when the two teams continued the encounter.
Warriors’ big starting line up was already looking advantageous on paper with players such as Flynn Hinds, Carlos Crandon, Randy Richardson, Leroy Edwards and Dexter Benjamin, but they proved themselves on the court and began to show their aggression from jump ball. Crandon was on fire from beyond the arc, nailing three huge three pointers, while Richardson was dominant on the inside, snatching the defensive boards and finishing strongly on the offensive end.
Meanwhile, Panthers looked keen on putting up a fight through powerful inside work from the ever reliable Emon Wiggins, but they fell behind 28-38 at halftime as the Warriors enjoyed a comfortable advantage.
On resumption the Warriors continued to show their superiority, forcing a number of turnovers and converting on offense through good ball distribution from Edwards.
At the end of the third quarter the Warriors were just over 30 points ahead of their opponents. They continued their relentless scoring in the final period to amass the whopping 42 points win.
Crandon led the Warriors’ scoring with a game high 20 points, while his teammates Richardson and Qwesi Joseph contributed 16 and 13 points respectively.
Wiggins was the lead scorer for the Panthers with 14 points, while Perry Cort assisted with eight.
