[www.inewsguyana.com] – The Bahamas men’s national basketball team’s opener against St Vincent & the Grenadines looked so easy with a 31-point massacre.
After posting a 46-22 advantage at the half, the team continued to apply the defensive pressure as they went on to pull off an impressive 84-53 victory in the first game on day one of the Caribbean Basketball Championships in Tortola, British Virgin Islands.
The effort was a result of the tremendous effort the players turned in as they participated in the nine-day training camp at Colorado State University under the supervision of first year head coach Larry Eustachy.
“It was a pretty good performance,” said assistant coach Mario Bowleg. “We didn’t feel the team was as aggressive as they should have been at the beginning because I believe they were all just anxious to get on the court on play. But once they settled down, we managed to play up to our potential.”
Bowleg, the first vice president of the Bahamas Basketball Federation, said the make-up of the team puts the Bahamas in a very good position to win the tournament as everybody was talking about their athleticism that was displayed so far.
“We believe that this is the best team that we have put together in a long time,” he said. “Everybody came out and did what they had to do to win. It was really a collective effort and if we can get that type of performance every game, we will be okay.”
The Bahamas opened the game with an 8-0 run and seemed as if they were going to blow out their opponents. But St Vincent and the Grenadines managed to trim the deficit to one, 12-11, the closest they came to taking the lead. But that was short-lived as the Bahamas went on a spurt for a 25-17 lead at the end of the first quarter.
With their swamping defence and dominance in the paint, the Bahamas held their opponents to just five points in the second quarter as they posted a 46-22 rout at the half. By the end of the third, the Bahamas had built a huge 66-33 lead and it was just a matter of what the final score would be.
Grand Bahamian guard Alonzo Hinds came off the bench and led three other players in double figures with 14 points, shooting 6-for-15 from the field, 1-for-4 from the three-point line and 1-for-2 from the three throw line. He also had three assists and a pair of steals.
