Sonics defeat Nets in Mandela Avenue derby

Pepsi Sonics defeated arch-rivals Republic Bank Nets 51-45 in the Mandela Avenue derby Open Division matchup when the Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association (GABA) League Qualifying Knockout Tourney continued on Sunday.

Played at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall on Homestretch Avenue, sharp-shooter Trevor Smith recorded a game-high 19 points in the win while fellow shooter Jason Squires netted eight points. For the losers, Pelham Doris and Stephen Johnson netted 11 and eight points respectively.

In the second matchup of the section, the University of Guyana (UG) Trojans crushed Eagles by a 77-41 score line. Allister Lewis led the Trojans with 12 points while Emanuel Archibald, Ewart Smith and Akeen Kanhai supported with 11, 10 and 10 points respectively.

Top scoring in the match in a losing effort was Mark Wills with 17 points. In the opening match of the night, Colts crushed Pepsi Sonics 94-52 in a u-23 affair. Jonathan Pooran and Kevin Dey top scored in the win with 18 points each.

They were assisted by Jonathan Mangra and Damani Thomas who netted 13 and 10 points respectively. Netting 12 and 10 points each in the loss were Joshua Lee and Lenuer Grant respectively.

The five day tourney which will be staged entirely at the aforesaid facility, will conclude on August 9th. The event will comprise of two sections which will be the u-23 and Open Divisions. Action in the event is slated to continue today at the same venue with a doubleheader.

On the third night of the tourney on August 5th, the fourth ranked Plaisance Guardians will faceoff with Knights in an Open Divisional fixture from 18:00hrs while the final match at 20:00hrs will pit the third ranked Colts against the sixth seeded Melanie Patriots in an Open matchup. Upon the conclusion of the first round of knockout fixtures, the event will continue on August 7th with three programmed matchups pending the results of the earlier fixtures.