McDoom/Diamond handed Nigel Hinds and Associates North Ruimveldt their first loss of the National Community Basketball League (NCBL) last Saturday evening at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH).
McDoom/Diamon won 69-63.
Being that it was the quarterfinal round the loss only meant one thing for North Ruimveldt and that was an open invitation to watch the finals of the tournament from the bleachers of the CASH.
McDoom/Diamond was excellent on defense, patrolling the paint with ferocity while sending any lacklustre shot attempt away from the basket.
The East Bank-based team, due to its defense, was able to run the fast break effectively scoring a high percentage of their shots from point blank range.
However, it was not a one-sided affair as North Ruimveldt played the pick and offensive scheme better than any team so far and had excellent ball movement to keep the game close until the final three minutes where the defense of McDoom/Diamond was to much to overcome.
Travis Burnett scored a game-high 17 points for McDoom/Diamond while team captain Ryan Stephanie, who almost caused McDoom/Diamond the game with two late turnovers poured in 15 points of his own.
Jason Squires brought his ‘A’ game for North Ruimveldt scoring 14 in the quarterfinal match-up while Yusef Edgil had 11 points in the knockout loss.
Meanwhile, Republic Bank blew out CARICOM Secretariat 83-54 to walk away with what was initially thought of as an exciting rival match between the two teams.
Republic Bank simply blew away their opposition as the speed and youth of the team was a huge factor in the game.
The bankers were also able to get their three- point shooting going which definitely counted for a great percentage of their points, killing the hopes of the CARICOM team in the moment.
John Fraser led the way for Republic bank with a game-high 36 points while Shane Joseph netted 14 points of his own.
Clive Wilson and Erwin Roberts were the main contributors for the CARICOM Secretariat in the embarrassing loss with 17 and 15 points respectively.
