Pacers edge into East b-ball ‘Four’

UNIT TRUST Maloney Pacers secured their place in the Second Division Big Four final with a determined showing against Colours, winning 65-63 as the Eastern Community Basketball League action heated up on Wednesday night.

Already the Division 1 and 2 league and knockout champions, Pacers were always closely pursued by the Colours team who lurked five points aloof at the half with  the score 33-28. But Pacers in a performance reticent of their title-winning style fought off their advances to win by a mere two points. The Colours pair of Akil La Roche who scored a game-high 18 points, along with eight rebounds and five steals and Marvin Humphrey who put in 14 with  nine rebounds and three steals were unable to stop the Pacers players who seemed to already know their destiny.

Kenrick Bernard scored 17, with eight rebounds and three steals to lead Pacers scorers despite leaving the game to be hospitalised due to an irregular heartbeat, while Kenyatta Alfred contributed 14 and Michael Alert put up 11 to make sure the Pacers had an opportunity to invade the final and set up the final move in their drive to take all Division 1 and 2 titles. In a thrilling Division 1 Big Four match which went into overtime after being tied at 71 by the end of regulation and saw Marabella Raptors, led by Ako Pascal’s cross court antics and game high 37 points, take a tight 87-83 win after one period. Raptors’ Damian Caton scored 23 and took 11 rebounds and on defence Fitzroy Gray held 10 rebounds and contributed five points to the effort, Hawks’ Marvin Celestine let fly with 35 points and snatched 8 steals while Dereck Hughue resisted with 21 points and Khary Alexis took down 15 rebounds and scored 8 points.