The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

The Mail Boat Cybots are back to defend their title in the New Providence Basketball Association.

Behind the explosive game high 36 points and 15 rebounds from Eugene Bain and the game winning pair of free throws from Mitch Bain on Wednesday night at the AF Adderley Gymnasium, the Cybots nipped the Real Deal Shockers 112-111 to win the Vince Ferguson Divisional title in the league’s championship series. They will have to wait until tonight to determine who their opponents will be out of the John Archer Division.

In their best-of-five series on Wednesday, the PJCS Stingers knocked off last year’s runners-up Commonwealth Bank Giants 98-90 to pull even at 2-2. The fifth and deciding game will be played at 8pm.

In winning their series 3-1, coach Wayde Watson said his Mail Boat had to dig down deep for the victory. “It was a rough and rugged road, but this group of guys, for the first time all season, I was able to see them respond to our defence like they should have,” Watson said. “All season, they didn’t play like they are capable of playing. They just were not prepared to lose this game. That’s the first time that I really saw them run the defence that we practiced.”

Watson said he was proud of the way in which Eugene Bain stepped up and carried the team on his shoulders. In his starting role, he shot 16-of-32 from the field and was 4-for-6 from the free throw line for his game high 36 points with 18 rebounds, 15 on the defensive glass, along with six assists, three steals and two block shots.

“Gene promised me that we were not going to lose the game,” Watson said. “I was getting text messages from the guys all day saying that they were not prepared to lose the game. They wanted to close out the series. They didn’t want to take the chance of going into a game five on Friday. Eugene, Brian Bain and Robert Missick said they are not going to lose the game. They will do whatever it takes to close out the series.”

With the game on the line and the Cybots trailing 111-110 in the winding seconds, Mitch Bain was fouled. He went to the charity stripe and canned the two free throws to seal the deal. He finished with 14 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. David Taylor had 22 points with three rebounds and two assists and Ernest Saunders had 19 points, four assists and three rebounds to help compensate for Brian Bain’s two points and five rebounds.

In a losing effort, Salathial ‘Donkey’ Dean had 25 points snd 16 rebounds, Floyd Armbrister had 22 points, six assists and three rebounds, Vernon Stubbs added 19 ponts with six rebounds, three assists and two steals and Dion ‘Rookie’ McPhee chipped in with 15 points, six rebounds, six assists, four steals and two blocks.

Now that they are back into the final, Watson said they will just wait to see who their opponents will be. “I don’t want to make any predictions,” he said. “I will try to get the guys ready and focused for one game at a time. We need to be prepared for whichever team comes out of the John Archer Division and look at what they do and try to mitigate their strength and capitalise on their weaknesses and hopefully win game one.”

Stingers 98,

Giants 90

Just when it seemed as if the PJCS were out of the series, they found a way to bounce back and pull off the equaliser.

Tavares Roker led the attack with a game high 22 points, three rebounds and two assists, while Able Joseph had a triple double with 19 points, 15 rebounds, 10 assists and five steals. Ian ‘Wire’ Pinder had 11 points and 10 rebounds, Jason Mitchell 11 points and seven rebounds, Cordero Thompson 10 points and Batchlette LaFleur helped out with eight points.

For the Giants, Gamaliel Rose produced 18 points and 28 rebounds with four block shots, Mark Hanna had 15 points, eight rebounds and five assists, Jeremy Hutchinson had 14 points and nine rebounds, Jeffery Henfield 13 points and Jervonne Atkins 10 points.

The fifth and deciding game is slated for 8pm tonight at the AF Adderley Gymnasium. The winner will advance to the best-of-seven championship series that will get underway on Monday at the same time.