Pacesetters ‘A’ dominated their opponents on Saturday evening when the super sixteen rounds of the Mackeson Smooth Moves 3-on-3 basketball tournament concluded at the Mackenzie Sports Club basketball court in Linden.
Travis Burnett was outstanding for Pacesetters as he consistently broke down the defence of Team Demolition with his series of crossovers to the entertainment of the large crowd, either scoring himself or finding his teammates for the assist. He also played good perimeter defence as the game ended 21-7 in favour of Pacesetters ‘A’.
Champions of the Linden zone, Victory Valley Royals which has only lost one out of nine games so far in the tournament registered yet another win, knocking out Slash.
Chris Williams made a turn around impact off the bench in the game after Inter Guiana Games (IGG) representative Marlon Pollydore seemed out of it. William’s high activity on defence along with his smooth shooting touch in the closing minutes of the game proved to be the deciding factor for the Lindeners as they defeated Slash 16-14 in the 15-minute game.
Bartica, after coming a long way in the tournament was sent packing by Above the Rim as the game finished 23-10.
The Barticians were unable to get any offence going as stifling defence by Above the Rim kept the Barticians at bay.
The second game of the night proved to be a heart pounder as King Street Ballers (KSB) went down to the final whistle with Assassin with the score knotted on 13-13. KSB were able to hold their nerve as they won by one in the free throw shootout.
Orin Rose led his team, Unknowns to an easy 15-9 victory over Moses Pacesetters who began to play lackadaisical basketball after the first half.
Kester Gomes and his Knights team failed to come up big against Full Clip as they lost the hard fought game that came down to the final minute 13-15.
Orchestrated around lock-down defence, Jets and Cronics put on a show for the crowd as the game was low scoring but filled with excitement especially on the defensive end.
Ryan Melville was a constant nuisance to the defence of the Jets as his penetration into the paint got the Jets into foul trouble causing them to lose one of their players with three minutes left in the game.
However, the experience of the Jets team allowed them to hold out to win the game with a 10-7 scoreline.
Pitbulls, in the final game of the night walked away with an easy victory over Den Amstel as the match-up ended 18-7.
