—- Force game three in Open division
Saturday night’s games in the finals of the Pepsi Street Playoff Series undoubtedly belonged to the Ravens Basketball club as they won the Division Three finals and later forced a game three in the series’ Open division.
Ravens closed out the Scorpions 83-56 in game two of the best-of-three finals on Saturday night, to seal the Series’ Division Three championship title, having clinched game one 77-75 last Thursday night.
In typical Ravens fashion, the team soared in the final quarter of the game, and shifted the tempo from a closely contested one at the end of the third quarter to a blowout by the final whistle of the game.
The Scorpions recovered well to lead 31-25 at halftime after Ravens doubled Scorpions’ scoring in the opening quarter which ended 18-9.
By the end of the third quarter, the Ravens had taken the sting out of the Scorpions and regained the lead by the end of the quarter (45-42) to set up perfect ground for them to take off in the final period.
Ravens pummeled shots from all angles of the court in the final quarter and no defence the Scorpions threw their way was even the least bit effective. They amassed 38 points in the fourth quarter, which took them to their game winning total, in comparison to the Scorpions’ 14-point last quarter score.
Ravens’ Antwian Benjamin, Marlon Haynes and Tyrone Hamid headlined By Floyd Christie
Saturday night’s games in the finals of the Pepsi Street Playoff Series undoubtedly belonged to the Ravens Basketball club as they won the Division Three finals and later forced a game three in the series’ Open division.
Ravens closed out the Scorpions 83-56 in game two of the best-of-three finals on Saturday night, to seal the Series’ Division Three championship title, having clinched game one 77-75 last Thursday night.
In typical Ravens fashion, the team soared in the final quarter of the game, and shifted the tempo from a closely contested one at the end of the third quarter to a blowout by the final whistle of the game.
The Scorpions recovered well to lead 31-25 at halftime after Ravens doubled Scorpions’ scoring in the opening quarter which ended 18-9.
By the end of the third quarter, the Ravens had taken the sting out of the Scorpions and regained the lead by the end of the quarter (45-42) to set up perfect ground for them to take off in the final period.
Ravens pummeled shots from all angles of the court in the final quarter and no defence the Scorpions threw their way was even the least bit effective. They amassed 38 points in the fourth quarter, which took them to their game winning total, in comparison to the Scorpions’ 14-point last quarter score.
Ravens’ Antwian Benjamin, Marlon Haynes and Tyrone Hamid headlined their team’s scoring with 19, 16 and 15 points respectively, while Shelroy Thomas was Scorpions’ lead scorer with a game high 29 points.
Game two of the night saw the Ravens forcing a game three in the Open division of the series by defeating the Courts Pacesetters 73-63.
Pacesetters had edged Ravens in the first game of the three game Series, but they were not as fortunate on Saturday night as the Ravens held on to the lead in the second half of the game.
As at the start of game one, Pacesetters’ Naylon Loncke was on fire as he netted back-to-back shots from downtown within the first two minutes of the game, giving Pacesetters the early advantage.
However, they were not allowed to stray too far ahead in points as Ravens had unleashed their own three-point arsenal on the other end of the court when Stephon Henry and Rodwell Fortune touched nothing but net with two huge shots from beyond the arc.
Pacesetters were setting the pace, but Ravens remained closely behind their opponents at halftime (33-31).
Aided by a vital three-pointer from Darcel Harris and some successful penetration through the lane by Rodwell Fortune, Ravens mustered a 48-47 point lead at the end of the third.
Ravens extended the lead in the fourth quarter and were threatened on occasion by the Pacesetters.
Pacesetters’ Guard, Hugh Arthur, who is normally quick in transition, took the Pacesetters within four points of the Ravens (65-61) late in the last quarter when he scored on a fast break. Arthur drove to the hole on a few other fast breaks that followed and was awarded multiple free-throws as he was fouled during his attempts.
But with opportunities to slash Ravens’ lead Arthur missed the majority of his shots from the line and Ravens made them count after snatching the rebounds, extending their lead and leaving the Pacesetters on 63.
Ryan Gullen and Fortune piloted Ravens’ scoring with 16 and 15 points respectively, while Travis Burnett and Loncke netted 16 and 13 respectively for the Pacesetters.
