The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

The defending champions Mail Boat Cybots won the first three games of the New Providence Basketball Association best-of-seven championship series.

The Commonwealth Bank Giants came back and won the next three straight.

Now the two teams will have to go to the seventh and deciding game on Saturday night to determine this year’s champions and the NPBA representative in the Bahamas Basketball Federation’s National Round Robin Tournament during the first weekend in May.

At the AF Adderley Gymnasium last night, without forward Mark Hanna in the line-up, the Giants got a big lift in the back court from Patrick Brice, who stepped up with 37.7 seconds left on the clock to help seal a 78-75 victory with a lay-up for the Giants.

Brice, who came off the bench to play 22 minutes, scoring 15 points, three steals, an assist and a block shot, said they knew that they couldn’t quit as they got the monkey of their back and put the pressure squarely on the Cybots.

“We’re going to win on Saturday. It’s over,” predicted a confident Brice. “We played with a heart of a lion. We never gave up.”

Brice said they have finally gotten into the “heads” of the Cybots and they intend to keep the pressure on in game seven.

While Brice had his best game of the series, Jeffery Henfield led the way for Commonwealth Bank with 17 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Ricardo Pierre, who hobbled at times, had 16 points with five rebounds and two assists.

Jeremy Hutchinson and Gamaliel Rose both had 10 points with 12 and nine rebounds respectively. But Rose once again made his presence felt in the middle as he swatted a series high 12 block shots.

Eugene Bain had 17 points, 14 rebounds, six blocks and three assists to pace the Mail Boat. David Taylor had 16 points and five rebounds, Roosevelt Whylly 12 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks.

Mitchel Bain, who came off the bench and contributed eight points, said they just simply fell short because of a “lack of defence,” but he is convinced that they can bounce back and get back on track the way they started the series.

“Just as we went up, we went down. That’s basketball,” he said. “We just have to get ready to play every night.”

Both teams came out to play as whenever one went up, the other found a way to get right back into the game that saw the lead see-saw throughout the first three quarters. It wasn’t until the fourth that the Giants got ahead and they stayed on top.

Tied at 56-56 at the end of the third, the Giants, coached by Perry Thompson, got a three-pointer from Ricardo Pierre to start a mini-run that ended up Rose’s fast break two-handed dunk that extended their lead from 59-56 to 68-58.

The Cybots, coached by Wayde Watson, went on a spurt of their own, starting with Eugene Bain’s two free throws for a 73-67 deficit at the 2:28 mark as they finished it off on a three-pointer from Mitchel Bain to come within one, 74-73, with 1:15 to go.

That was when Brice was fouled, went to the charity stripe and canned his pair of free throws and the Giants opened a 76-73 lead.

After a Cybots’ turnover, Henfield converted another pair of foul shots and Commonwealth Bank extended their lead to 78-73. The Cybots got the final basket, but the Giants ran out the clock to preserve the win.

Commonwealth Bank concluded the first quarter on a buzzer-beating jumper from Jackson Jacob.

The Mail Boat broke up a 37-37 tie in the final minute of the second quarter as Eugene Bain and David Taylor got two consecutive baskets for a 43-39 advantage down the stretch.

And after Rose swatted a couple of shots to stop an offensive threat from the Cybots, Brice hit two free throws to bring the Giants into a 56-56 tie to close out the third period.