The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

THE New Providence Amateur Basketball Association resumed play Monday night at the DW Davis Gymnasium following the holiday season.

Mailboat Cybots - 109

Defence Force Marines - 69

The defending champions got off to a familiar start in 2014 with a 40-point blowout win over the Marines. Eugene Bain led six Cybots in double figures with a season high 29 points and 12 rebounds. Dominant in the paint on both ends of the floor, he shot 11-15 from the field at 74 per cent and 7-9 from the free throw line. Roosevelt Whylly added 32 points and eight rebounds, Simon Cruz added 16 points and six assists, while David Taylor finished with 10 points and nine rebounds. Off the bench, Kenneth Pratt added 11 points, six rebounds and three steals while Cordairo Pinder finished with 10 points. Elvardo Burrows finished with 15 points to lead the Marines while Blair Allen added 10.

Bain and Whylly led to a lopsided advantage in the paint for the Cybots, where they outscored the Marines 72-40. That inside attack led to 59 per cent shooting from the field despite going just 2-13 from three-point range. They out-rebounded the Marines 47-37 and finished with 12 more assists, 25-13.

The Cybots took control of the game immediately with the first score and a 17-2 run to start the first quarter. They led 28-15 at the end of the first and the lead grew to as much as 27 in the second. The Cybots opened the quarter on a 7-0 run to take a 20-point lead, 35-15, when Whylly split a pair at the line. Whylly’s dunk with less than a minute remaining in the quarter gave his team a 57-30 headed into the half. The lead extended to 33 points in the third as the Cybots won another quarter, 26-20.

Whylly gave the Cybots a 44-point lead when he finished a dunk off an assist from Cruz to give his team a 107-63 with 2:36 left to play. For Bain, it was his fourth game of the season with at least 20 points and 10 rebounds. He is one of just two “20-10” players in the league along with Jeremy Hutchinson of the Commonwealth Bank Giants.

With his performance, Bain took control of the league lead in scoring at 22.5 points per game. He moved into second in rebounding at 10.6 rebounds per game. The two-sport star has three double doubles on the season, including identical 25-point, 10-rebound games against PJCS and the Pyramid Food Rockets. His biggest game of the season thus far was a 25-point and league leading 24-rebound performance in a win over the Double R Services Cleaners. The Cybots improved to 5-3 while the Marines are still searching for their first win at 0-9. The Marines faced the Double R Cleaners last night but the results were unavailable up to press time.

Pyramid Food Rockets - 88

College Of the Bahamas

Caribs - 80

The Rockets’ record improved to .500 in a match-up between the fourth and fifth place teams in the Vince Ferguson division. Tamko Moxey led the way with 20 points for the Rockets while Barry Carter added 17 points and eight rebounds and Henderson Curry finished with 14 points and a game high seven assists. Reuben Goodman and Roland Horton each finished with 14 points to lead the Caribs.

Alvano Laing posted a double double (11 points and 10 rebounds) Glen Davis added 13 points while Justin Smith chipped in with 10. The Rockets improved to 4-4 while the Caribs fell to 2-5.

In a closely contested first quarter, Ryan Turnquest gave the Rockets a 17-16 lead at the end of the first period. The Caribs would pull even in the second when Davis’ layup tied the game at 22 at the 7:56 mark. It was the first of three ties in the period before the Rockets were able to pull away late and gain control for good.

Tied at 32 with 3:14 left to play, the Rockets emerged from a timeout to end the quarter on a 15-6 run. Carter’s lay-up got the run started and his jumper minutes later gave the Rockets their biggest lead of the game, 47-34. They led 47-38 at the break. The Caribs were only able to cut into the deficit by two points in the third quarter as they won the period, 19-17, but were outscored 24-23 in the fourth.

The Rockets shot just 35 per cent from the field, held a seven-point advantage at the free throw line. They forced 22 turnovers from the Caribs and scored 16 points off those turnovers. The Rockets faced the Island Luck Pros last night but the results were unavailable up to press time.