Basketball in Africa

Heat stay unbeaten before Hawks clash

Baya lost centre Timmy Adam early in the first quarter, but Alex Baron and the rest of the team did not let his absence bother them as they powered to a 75-60 win, inflicting a third defeat on Mont Fleuri Dawgz so early in the season.

The men’s division one championship is really getting interesting; probably the most interesting it has been in many years. And on Saturday, the big crowd at Victoria Gymnasium got their money’s worth as Baya and Mont Fleuri Dawgz brought the ‘game’ to the basketball garden.
After Adam was taken off the court by teammates after spraining his right ankle, he was not there to exhort his team to play hard as he was transported to the English River health centre. But his teammates read the defence and took advantage of any openings they found against the Dawgz.
As coach Michel Malbrook diagrammed plays, Baron filled the void left by Adam, dominating the offensive and defensive boards and also finishing with a game-leading 22 points.
Steve Denis banked four treys for 13 of his 20 points, while captain Dave Roseline added 15 as Baya’s starters scored 67 of their team’s 75 points.
After winning the first quarter 20-13, Baya lost the second 18-21 but still went for the break with a four-point – 38-34 – advantage.
The two teams tied each other 14-14 in the third quarter before Baya stepped on the accelerator to pull away from the Dawgz as they won the fourth quarter 23-12 for a big 75-60 win.
“We’re playing good basketball,” skipper Roseline told Sports Nation.
“We needed to win and we played as a team. We will be all out in the remaining matches,” added Roseline whose team are second in the nine-team standings with nine points after four wins and a loss.
Steven André was the Dawgz’ top scorer with 15 points, while young and talented Kevin Romain finished with 14 –the same total as swingman Cyril Agrippine who fouled out after coming off the bench.
The defeat was the third in six games for the Dawgz coached by Nigel Ah-kong and they have to start getting their strategy right if they want to stay in the title hunt.
Also Saturday, Beau Vallon Heat extended their win run to five games with an 80-59 victory against Angels and they are the only unbeaten side in the championship with a maximum 10 points to lead the standings.
With their next opponents PLS Hawks watching from the stands, Beau Vallon turned up the heat on Angels as they won the first three quarters 21-17, 22-5 and 26-18.
Although they lost the fourth 11-19, it did not have much impact as they had three players scoring in double figures – Jean-Paul ‘JP’ Camille with 27 points, centre Robert Léon with 25 and Christopher ‘To’ Camille with 12.
Heat’s starters outscored those of Angels 63-39 and it remains to be seen if they can produce the same result this coming Saturday against PLS Hawks who are still licking their wounds from a first defeat in two years on a 73-82 score at the hands of Baya.
Before that, the Hawks will be in action tomorrow when they take on RC Dynamics in a match scheduled for last Saturday but was postponed due to rain which rendered the Victoria Gymnasium court slippery.
Also on Sunday, the match between MBU Rockers and Drifters had to be stopped with six minutes left in the fourth quarter and the Rockers leading 67-58.
Meanwhile, in the men’s second division league, Praslin Warriors collected two weekends during the weekend – 59-50 against Anse Etoile and 62-59 against Wolf – to go third on the seven-team table with nine points (four wins and a loss).
Cascade Bullets, who lost their top flight status at the end of last season, are leading the chase with 10 points after five wins in as many games and Razors are also on 10 points but have played six games – winning four and losing two.
G. G.