Last second shot give Maloney Game 1

KENYATTA ALFRED came off the bench to hit the winning basket with the seconds ticking away to give Unit Trust Maloney Pacers victory 80-79 over North Zone champs National Flour Mills (NFM), in Game 1 of the National Basketball Federation of Trinidad and Tobago National Championships  at the Maloney Indoor Sport Com-plex on Wednesday.

Now the Maloney men are just one victory away fron snatching the title from their much-vaunted opponents. From the start of Wednesday night’s opening game of the best-of-three final, it was a tight contest but NFM took the early lead, ending the first quarter 24-20. But Pacers, although unaccustomed to playing from behind, made up the deficit and forged ahead 43-42 at the half-time interval. “Flour” were not about to fold however, and bounced back to lead 57-55 at the end of the three-quarter stage, as the see-saw affair continued to the delight of the “home” fans.

The final stanza had fans off their chairs as the lead changed hands rapidly as both teams went for the jugular with some delightful passing and shooting. And in the end, it was Alfred who turned out to be the hero of the night with his last-second game-winner. Eventual “Player of the Game” Derrick Boxhill put in a game high 20 points. He also had two rebounds and two assists, Simon Moreno added 16 and three carooms and Junior Harper 15 points, six rebounds and blocked two shots.  Alfred finished with seven points. Kerry Westfield led NFM with 15 points, eight rebounds and five assists and Ashley “Dr Dunk” Bynoe added 14 points, four rebounds and three assists.

The Pacer women did not fare as well when they began their best-of-three game series against Courts Horizon at the same venue  earlier. Led by star centre Chezelle Griffith who had a game high 25 points and hauled down 11 rebounds, Horizon won Game 1  in emphatic  fashion 65-51. Philomena George added  21 points, five assists and seven rebounds and Marcellin Noel nine points and two rebounds. Melissa Guerero led the Maloney women with 16 points and eight rebounds and Leslie Ann Francis contributed 14 points and seven rebounds. Horizon led 15-9 at the end of the opening quarter and extended that lead to 18 points at the halfway stage — 37-19. A third-quarter rally by Pacers saw them trim the lead to 11 points  — 52-41, but that was far as they got. Both the men and women Game 2 will be played off on Monday night also at Maloney.