Colts and Pacesetters progressed to the second round in the Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association (GABA) ‘Andrew Ifill Memorial Knockout Championship’, following hard-fought wins on Thursday at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, Homestretch Avenue, Georgetown.
The Colts defeated the Guardians 93-83 in overtime. Shelroy Thomas led the victors with 31 points, while Stanton Rose and Royan Shorty added 20 and 17 points respectively. For the losers, Nikkoloi Smith led the way with 29 points, while Enoch Matthews, and Trenton Woolford scored 17, and 16 points respectively.
Leading 18-12 at the end of the first stanza, Colts increased their advantage, as they outscored their opponents 25-21 to enter the halftime interval ahead at 43-33. However, Guardians reduced the deficit in the pivotal third period at 56-51, after outhustling Colts 18-13.
Overtime was then required to settle the outcome, as Guardians levelled the contest at 80-80, outscoring Colts by a 29-24 score in the fourth period. Nevertheless, Colts clinched the result in the extra time period, as they outshot Guardians 13-4.
Meanwhile, Pacesetters edged Eagles 61-57. Elijah David, Jaleel Duke, and Nathan Saul recorded double figures of 14, 13, and 10 points respectively in the win. Adding six points was Jermaine Hamilton.
On the other side, Shamar Huntley top scored with 18 points, while Jared Sears, and Sherland Gillis registered 13, and 12 points apiece.
The fixture started positively for Pacesetters as they raced to a 13-5 lead at the end of a cagey first period. Eagles responded to narrow the deficit at 23-22, as they outscored Pacesetters 17-10. Pacesetters marginally increased their lead in the third period, scoring 16 points while restricting Eagles to 14 points to lead 39-36 heading into the fourth quarter.
The contest was then sealed, as Pacesetters outworked Eagles by a marginal 22-21 score in the final stanza.
