A fourth quarter blitz propelled Eagles U23 to a berth in the final of the Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association (GABA) League Championships after they defeated Colts 64-56 in their semi-final affair Friday at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
Trailing 41-40 at the end of the third period, Eagles, led by a combined 14-point effort from Kevin Higgins and Travis Belgrave, outscored Colts 24-15 to clinch the hard-fought contest.
Higgins netted seven points in the period highlighted by two layups and a three-pointer while Belgrave registered an identical total compliments of three layups and a freethrow. In the final quarter assault, five other team-mates chipped in with two points apiece.
For Colts, Jonathan Mangra netted five points in the period while Troy David supported with four points. Overall, Higgins led the winners with 17 points while Belgrave was the next best scorer with 15 points.
Kavesi Thompson, Kheon Evans and Darroll Williams netted nine, eight and seven points respectively while Mangra scored a match-high 18 points and Jafar Gibbons, Daniel Haynes and Troy David 15, eight and six points respectively.
Eagles will now lock horns with the winner of the Pacesetters and Ravens encounter for the championships. The closely-contested encounter began favourably for Eagles as they edged Colts 13-11 at the end of the first period.
Higgins top scored in the quarter with four points followed by Thompson with three points while three other team-mates chipped in with two points each. On the other end, Gibbons led the way with three points alongside two points each for four other team-members.
The second period witnessed Colts reducing the deficit to one, outscoring Eagles 17-16 to enter the half trailing at 28-29. Mangra led the assault with nine points including a three-pointer while Gibbons and Amoniki John scored four points apiece
Colts built on their momentum in the third period, seizing the marginal lead as they outshot Eagles 13-11 to set up the fixture’s unlikely end in the process.
Gibbons top scored with five points while Haynes contributed four points. On the other side, Williams netted five points.
In the second matchup of the section, Plaisance Guardians defeated the University of Guyana (UG) Trojans 64-56 in their final round-robin matchup. Terrence Daniels top scored in the win with 21 points while Malcolm Powdar was the next best scorer with 13 points.
Chipping in with eight and seven points respectively were Kelwyn Griffith and Kelvin Yorrick.
For the losers, Alastair Lewis recorded a game-high 23 points while Eli Innis supported with 16 points.
With the first period failing to separate the teams at 10-10, Trojans seized control of the fixture in the second period as they netted 20 points to Guardians 14 points to enter the half time interval ahead 30-24.
Guardians eventually reduced the deficit in the third quarter, outscoring their opponent 22-18 to trail 48-46 going into the final stanza. The come from behind result was completed in the fourth quarter as the East Coast of Demerara unit outshot Trojans 18-8.
The action will continue today at the same venue with Republic Bank Nets matching skills with Knights in the first division two semi-final at 18:30hrs while Colts will take on Ravens in the first first-division semi-final at 20:30hrs.
Upon the conclusion of the final group and semi-final matches, the division finals will commence. All division finals will be contested in a best of three format.
