Arima Vintage Park Warriors soared into second position following its third successive East Zone Basketball Commission (EZBC) Second Division championship win at the Maloney Indoor Sport Arena, yesterday. Vintage held the slightest of leads, 28-27, going into the second half of action, before eventually taking a comfortable win, thanks to an all rounded team effort. Captain of the Arima team, shooting guard Wayne Cupid scored 11 points, trailing his teammate forward Dane Cummings, who led the team with 12 points. Kevin Alleyne and Alister Francois were Arouca's most lethal shooters with 13 and 11 points, respectively. As a result, Arima Vintage advanced to second position on six points, four less than Maloney Pacers' Youth Development Programme, which won each of its five matches for the season. O'Meara Knights also sits in second position but has played one match more than Arima, winning two and losing two fixtures.
Two other matches were scheduled to jump off at the same venue last evening, with a Women's Division match between Diego Martin All Stars and Yorkers Basketball Academy preceding a Men's First division encounter between Maloney Tigers and Royal Extra Lions. A win for Maloney Tigers would see the team on top of the eight-team standings, together with Maloney Pacers YDP and Valencia Heat. A day prior, Maloney Pacers made light work of Chaguanas Lions in the Women's Division, as the former team went on to take the match by an unassailable 73-20 scoreline. Shantael Perry and Krysta Winchester were both in form for Maloney as they guided the team to a third consecutive win, and top of the division.
Results
Friday: Arouca black City 90 (Kelvin Alleyne 43 pts, Anderson Cumberbatch 10 pts) v Bon Air New Age 81 (Kevon Alexander 34 pts, Matthew Sheppard 10 pts)
Royal Extra Lions 72 (Ako Pascall 35 pts, Andrew Ifill 13 pts, Anthony Noreiga 11 pts) v Sangre Grande Youngsters 71 (Richard Mungoo 17 pts, Mikhail Williams 14 pts)
Saturday: Maloney Pacers 73 (Shantael Perry 25 pts, Krysta Winchester 24) v Chaguanas Lions 20
Maloney Pacers 67 (Shaquille Sylvester 16 pts, Nathan Lewis 15 pts, Maxime Pereira Jr 10 pts) v O'Meara Knights 60
Coastguard 60 v Chaguanas Lions 59