Dyna’s Ravens swept aside Pepsi Sonics by a 71-57 margin in an Open Divisional matchup when the Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association (GABA) League Qualifying Knockout Tournament continued on Thursday.
Top scoring in the win at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall on Homestretch Avenue were Ryan Gullen and Dominic Vicente with 18 points each whilst the next best scorers were Ryan Stephney and Jermin Slater with 11 and seven points correspondingly.
On the losing team, Jason Squires top scored with 20 points while Yannick December and Earl O’Neil netted 13 and nine points respectively.
The opening quarter started brightly for Ravens as they outscored Sonics by a 21-14 margin. Sonics then battled back in the second period, outscoring Ravens 18-14 to trail by a 35-32 score line going into the half-time interval.
Like the opening period, Ravens snatched the advantage in the third stanza as they outscored their opponents 21-10 to go the final period ahead 56-42. Ravens then sealed the contest in the final quarter as both teams scored 15 points apiece.
The second matchup of the division witnessed Trinity Grid Holdings (TGH) Pacesetters squeaking past the University of Guyana (UG) Trojans 50-41. Kirk Moses led the way with 13 points in the win while the next best scorer with eight points was Travis Williams.
Assisting with six and five points respectively were siblings Shawn and Stephon Gillis. On the other side, Akeem Kanhai registered a match leading 21 points whilst Quincy Easton, Ewart Smith, Dwight McKinnon and Samuel Thompson supported with six, five, five and five points respectively,
The low scoring affair began with Trojans edging ahead of Pacesetters 7-5 in the first stanza. However the matchup quickly began to move in favour of TGH Pacesetters who outshot Trojans 18-14 to take a 23-21 lead into the half.
The pivotal third period saw Pacesetters extending their advantage as they outscored the challenger 14-5 to head into the final stanza ahead 37-26. With an 11-point lead to fall back on, Pacesetters clinched the matchup despite being marginally outscored in the final stanza 15-13.
In other u-23 section, TGH Pacesetters downed Plaisance Guardians by a 73-62 score line. Nathan Saul was the top shot for the winners with a game high 21 points. He was assisted by Jaleel Duke, Terrence Paton and Stephen Peters who netted 15, 15 and 10 points respectively.
For the vanquished, Nduka Horatio recorded a team high 17 points while Malcolm Powder and Anton Fileen netted 14 and 10 points respectively.
Trailing 32-27 at the half time interval, Pacesetters changed the outcome of the matchup as they recorded an impressive 27 points in the third period while reducing Guardians to 15 to seize control of the match at 54-47.
Pacesetters eventually secured the come-from-behind result in the final period as they outhustled Patriots 17-15. Action in the tournament continues today at the same venue with the semi-final round for both divisions.
The championship will conclude tomorrow at the same location with the finals of the u-23 and Open Divisional sections.
