Lions roar to 81-79 Royal b-ball win

ROYAL Extra Lions, with a resolute fourth quarter rally, edged past Republic Bank Arrows 81-79 in their  Premier Division second round match in the Royal Extra North Zone Basketball League at St Paul’s Street Multi-Purpose Facility, Port-of-Spain.

Trailing 18-14, 42-35 and 60-53 at the quarter stages of Sunday’s match, the Lions put on the clamps on the Arrows shooters and outscored them 28-19 in that final period for a thrilling victory. Leading the Lions was David Burton with a match-high 26 points including three from beyond the arc. He added four rebounds and three assists. Ronald Hernandez scored 21 points and was a beast on the boards, hauling down 17 rebounds and added three assists, while Kerwin Larez had 19 points.

Orlando Mapp led the Arrows with 24 points including six from three-point range and added three assists and three rebounds, while Kurt Christian had 14 points four rebounds and threee assists and Kwesi Julien 13 points 11 rebounds and three assists. But in the other match, Detour Shaq Attack swamped Off Limits 135-71in a totally one-sided match. This match was over from the first quarter which the Attack led 32-13.  They were ahead 60-27 at half-time and 93-46 at the end of three quarters. Steve Williams led the scoring with 28 points and five rebounds and Morgan John had 14 points, two rebounds and three assists. No player from Off Limits managed to get into double figures.