Plaisance Guardians overcame newcomers Kobras 99-97 in their Open Division encounter when the Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association (GABA) League continued on Thursday at the Burnham Court at Carmichael and Middle streets.
Nikoloi Smith was the primary threat for the East Coast Demerara unit, tallying a monstrous 40 points. He was assisted by the foursome of Marlon Chesney, Enoch Matthews, Neetzkiel Yimel and Trenton Woolford, who netted 12, 11, 10 and 10 points, apiece.
On the other side, Travis Burnett top scored with 30 points, whilst Jermaine Slater, Carlos Edwards and Mark Richards chipped in with 20, 18 and 18 points, respectively. Deadlocked 45-45 at the end of the first half, Guardians seized control of the contest in the pivotal third period, registering 21 points, while restricting their foes to 16 points, to enter the final period ahead at 66-61.
Guardians then survived a late surge from Kobras in the fourth quarter to seal the hard-fought win, as they were outscored to 36-33.
On the other hand, Sonics defeated Knights 72-58 in the second matchup in the Open section. Trevor Smith shot his way to 24 points, recording five three point daggers in the process. The next best scorer with 19 points (2 x 3s) was Jason Squires, while Kerwin Jackson and Junior Lovell added 12 and six points, respectively, in the lopsided encounter.
For the loser, Keith Sandiford led the way with 17 points. The trident of Kester Gomes, Randy Aaron and William D’Aguiar contributed with 13, 10 and nine points correspondingly.
