Action in the First Division of the Kelvin Roberts North Zone Basketball League continued on Tuesday night. The second fixture in the double-header was fitting of a final but it was only the first meeting for the season between Spartans TT and coach Kern George (CKG) Elite teams.
In the end, it was Spartans coming away with a hard-fought 92-85 overtime win, propelled by the effort of Jahiem Furlonge at the Woodbrook Youth Centre in Port-of-Spain. He had a team-high 29 points.
However, Kern George’s effort could not go unnoticed as he left everything on the court for the Elite unit. His contribution combined with that of Ahkeem Boyd, who was later fouled out before the end of regulation time, had their team ahead at the end of each quarter–28-22 in the first, 48-42 at the half and 61-59 in the third, but their opponent never went away.
Spartans, propelled by Furlonge from behind the three-point arc, and Idriis Martin in the fourth, rallied back under the instructions of coach Garvin Warwick. Furlonge hit two crucial three-pointers while Martin added seven to help Spartans bring the score within two (83-81) when Theron Evelyn was fouled by Boyd, who had to depart the court because he fouled out.
Evelyn connected the first basket and missed the second, but the referee called a lane-breaking violation against Elite, gifting him a second chance, which he converted, to tie the score at 83. Elite had the final possession but could not get the winner, forcing overtime.
Elite, without Boyd and George in foul trouble, only managed to add two points to its tally in the five minutes while Spartans scored nine to pull away and claim the seven-point win. Elite is in fourth spot tied on 11 points with Royalty Basketball Academy.
Earlier, Defence Force made light work of Trailblazers, beating them 85-46, to move into third spot with 12 points.
On Sunday night, Shakiel Bertrand put on an offensive show to help the leader of the First Division, Maloney Pacers, win their fifth straight match of the season.
The power forward scored 19 of his match-high 32 points in the first half to help Pacers to a 92-66 domination over Royalty, to stay unbeaten in the ten-team competition.
The Royalty team was working to stay close late in the first half, but had already seen how dangerous Bertrand could be. He’d already scored 13 points to have Pacers ahead in the first period, 23-19, but added six more to stretch the four-point lead to 16 (46-30) at halftime.
When the second half started, Bertrand picked it back up with eight of Pacer’s third-quarter points as Tyrese Fields and Peter Alexis chipped in with seven and six, respectively, to watch the lead inch toward 30. They reached 29, closing the third with a 75-49 advantage. And that was more than enough as Royalty never got closer the rest of the way and settled for the 26-point loss.
Leshaun Alfred and Jelani Blackett were the next best on offence, each with 12 points for Pacers, who sit on top with 15 points wins. Royalty, who had Khushaiah King leading its scoring with 16, stayed third with 11 points from three wins and two losses.
Matches scheduled for Thursday have been postponed. Action will resume on Sunday, which the North Zone Commission themed the “Kelvin Roberts Basketball Sunday Bowl”, four matches from 2 pm.
Results
Tuesday
First Division
Spartans 92 (Jahiem Furlonge 29, Idriis Martin 20, Theron Evelyn 12, Shornell Pompey 10) vs CKG Elite 85 (Kern George 33, Ahkeem Boyd 21, Jaden Roberts 11, Randy Greenidge 10). Quarters: 1st 28-22 (Elite), 2nd 48-42 (Elite), 3rd 61-59 (Elite), 4th 83-83.
Trailblazers 46 (Che Miller 26) vs Defence Force 85 (Kerry McMillan 14, Kievan Bacquain 11). Quarters: 1st 25-10, 2nd 41-27, 3rd 63-31 (All in favour Defece Force).
Sunday
First Division
Maloney Pacers 92 (Shakiel Bertrand 32, Leshaun Alfred 12, Jelani Blackett 12) vs Royalty 66 (Khushaiah King 16, Jedaiah King 13, Jason Best 12). Quarters: 1st 23-19, 2nd 46-30, 3rd 75-49 (All in favour of Pacers).
U-17 Division
Maloney Pacers 55 (Nkobie Ince 24, Howard 13) vs CKG Elite 62 (Joseph Andrews 20, Taeleb Daniel 13). Quarters: 1st 13-18, 2nd 32-34, 3rd 44-47 (All in favour of CKG Elite).
O-45 Division
East West Veterans 46 (Kevin Sunich 11, Kurvis King 10) vs Prisons 40 (Kern Dottin 11, Steve McSween 10). Quarters: 1st 9-7 (Prisons), 2nd 19-18 (East West), 3rd 36-27 (East West).
June 26
First Division
Straker Nets 91 (Triston Benjamin 21, Sadiki Guerra 16, Chike Augustine 11) vs Basic Academy 67 (Adam Salazar 34, Edwin Cordova 13). Quarters: 1st 16-13, 2nd 32-31, 3rd 68-44 (All in favour of Straker).
Togetherness 55 (Blesings Brewster 20, Timothy Belgrave 18) vs CKG Elite 89 (Kern George 30, Jaden Roberts 13, Ahkeem Boyd 11). Quarters: 1st 20-10, 2nd 41-23, 3rd 67-33 (All in favour of CKG Elite).
June 24
Spartans TT 65 (Zachary Julien 17, Idris Martin 12) vs Morvant Oilbirds 67 (Obel Guerra 20, Rashawn Hope 10). Quarters: 1st 13-13, 2nd 33-28 (Spartans), 3rd 50-49 (Spartans).
Trailblazers 61 (Che Miller 18, Brionn Sealey 15) vs Royalty 102 (Jedaiah King 20, Christian Gillineau 18, Jason Best 13, Isaiah Mitchell 13). Quarters: 1st 34-8, 2nd 61-24, 3rd 84-42 (All in favour of Royalty).
June 20
Trailblazers 53 (Che Miller 17) vs Pacers 91 (Tyrese Fields 24, Shakiel Bertrand 13). Quarters: 1st 5-29, 2nd 24-54, 34-74 (All in favour of Pacers)
O-45 Divison
Sweaters Veterans 59 (Kofi Cmpbell 13, Keston Reed 10) vs Shaq Attack Veterans 41 (Lance Christian 12, Reynold Hospedales 10). Quarters: 1st 7-4, 2nd 21-12, 3rd 40-27 (All in favour of Sweaters).
June 19
U-17 Division
Basic Academy 48 (Amir Belgrade 24, Jairhem McLeod 11) vs CKG Elite 57 (Taeleb Daniel 21, Ori Jlodo 15). Quarters: 1st 14-10 (Basic), 2nd 26-28 (Elite), 3rd (Elite).
Spartans 130 (Williams Francis 47, Zachary Julien 28, Idriis Martin 15) vs Maloney Pacers 68 (Nkobie Ince 22, Reanan Howard 14). Quarters: 1st 27-13, 2nd 65-30, 3rd 101-51 (All in favour of Spartans).
Basic Academy 66 (Adam Salzar 27, Caleb Ferguson 15) vs Morvant Oil Birds 65 (Obel Guerra 22, Kevon Williams 12). Quarters: 1st 14-20, 2nd 32-35, 3rd 40-48 (All in favour of Oilbirds).
Sunday’s matches
U-17 Division: Spartans vs Basic B Academy, 2 pm
Over-45 Div:
NFM Vest Sweaters vs East West Vets 4 pm
Sweaters Vets vs Defence Force Vets, 6 pm
First Div: Straker Nets vs Pacers, 8 pm
Latest Standings
Pl*Teams*P*W*L*Pts
1*Maloney*Pacers*5*5*0*15
2*Strakers*Nets*4*4*0*12
3*D Force*6*3*3*12
4*Royalty*5*3*2*11
5*CKG Elite*5*3*2*11
6*Spartans TT*5*2*3*9
7*Basic Academy*5*2*3*9
8*Oil Birds*4*2*2*8
9*Togetherness*5*1*4*7
10*Trailblazers*6*0*6*6
