The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

What a difference the home court made for the College of the Bahamas Caribs men’s basketball team.

After getting blown out last season by the Florida Memorial University Lions, the Caribs had a chance to avenge the loss Friday night at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium in a game that was a part of COB’s 40th anniversary celebrations.

In an exciting exhibition game that was not decided until the final two minutes, the Lions returned to Florida with a 73-68 decision.

“Home court made a difference, but it was a bitter-sweet affair,” said COB’s coach Baccus Rolle. “We really wanted to get a win tonight, but the sixth man was there. The crowd was behind us. We could not say that we didn’t have the support that we wanted. We got that.

“We just had some key miscues at the end. But you can’t win a game if you have 30 turnovers. So we have to really crack down on the unforced turnovers and understand that winning starts way before you play. It starts in your mind.”

Never mind the fact that they came here short-handed with just eight players in uniform. Head coach Kenny Bellinger said his Lions’ mindset before they arrived was to keep their winning streak going against COB.

“I think what it boiled down to was that we didn’t give up. We kept playing hard and that helped us,” he said. “We’re a young group of guys, but I will take them working hard and I think that is what helped us tonight. They all worked very hard.”

Not taking anything from the Caribs, Bellinger admitted that they just wanted it a little more and it showed.

“They’ve improved every year and I think they will get it,” he said. “All they have to do is continue to play the way they are playing. They were tough against us. They played us much better than the last time. But again, we wanted to establish our presence and I think we did that.”

Utilising their height on their inside game, FMU got 16 points apiece from Shaquille Harding (with a game high 15 rebounds) and Andre Braziel, along with nine each from La’Dante Berry-White and Samuel Dorismond, who also contributed eight rebounds with a game high five assists. Aundre Reid Jr and Isaiah King added eight and seven respectively.

“This was a different atmosphere with the crowd pumping, but we kept our composure and won the game,” said Dorismond, the six-foot, two-inch sophomore swingman. “It was a very tough game for us, flying over here, but we enjoyed it, especially after winning such a close game.”

Despite the score, COB was never really out of contention of winning the game. In fact, every time they were down, they got some big shots from Rueben Goodman, who led the attack with a game high 21 points and eight rebounds, or Alvano Laing (10 rebounds) and Glenn Davis, who both had 12 points or Anthony Sands, who chipped in with eight points and four assists.

Justin Munroe, who helped out with six rebounds while only scoring two points, said he felt they executed their offence and defence the way coach Rolle had anticipated. But we just have to play aggressively for the entire game.

“We had the lead, but we just let it go, so we have to be more consistent with what we were doing that put us out front,’ said Munroe, the 6-7 centre. “We’re still coming together. We have some new guys on the team and we’re still feeling each other out. But in time, we will get better.”

Not wasting anytime as they shook off the cobwebs, the Lions opened a slim four-point lead, 8-4 in the first three minutes and extended it to 10 (16-6) with just over one minute left in the period before they went on to post a 16-12 margin at the end of the first 10 minutes.

Giving their fans something to cheer, the Caribs rallied to cut the deficit to two (25-23) with 3:30 remaining in the second quarter. But the Lions re-established their attack and went on to take a 36-26 advantage into the half.

With the various fraternities entertaining the crowd at the break, COB came back in the third quarter as they tightened up on their defence and was able to surge ahead (42-41) for their first lead since the first quarter on a lay-up from Sands.

Goodman got an offensive rebound and a putback to push the Caribs’ lead to three (44-41) with a 1:52 on the clock. On a Lions’ turnover, Goodman got away on a fast break and he attempted a one-hand slam dunk, but he missed as the fatigue started to set in.

Rolle brought in twin brothers Crispin and Craig Gibson to play out the rest of the period as they held onto a 47-43 lead. The twins remained in the game to start the fourth as COB came out on an up-tempo attack and they surged ahead 51-45.

All of a sudden, FMU made a run of their own, as Harding hit a jumper for a 51-50 deficit before Berry-White connected on a putback that pushed the Lions out front again (52-51) and this time, they never relinquished it.

Slowly pulling away as they took a 60-53 lead on a jumper from Berry-White and consecutive three-point plays from Berry-White and Reid Jr, the Lions were able to hold off a late fuel by the Caribs, who trimmed the lead to 63-60 on a lay-up from Laing.

FMU would extend their lead to 71-62 with 35.2 left on the clock but COB made it close, using a 6-2 spurt that ended with a pair of three-pointers from Goodman, the last coming at 0.1, as time and the game got away from the Caribs.

“This is our first game for the season. It’s a loss, but I think we learned more from the loss than we do from a win,” Rolle said. “This is a very good game for us to look at, take note of what we did right and what we did wrong.

“Moving forward, I think we will take this and use this as something to propel us. We have to come out more aggressively. Despite what the naysayers say, we have to remain focused on our goal and use this particular game as a platform. We knew that our defence is there, but we have to work on our offence a little more.”

The Caribs, who will not play another collegiate team until January when they travel to Florida, will now prepare for the New Providence Basketball Association’s regular season when they start playing on Friday against the Double R Service Limited Cleaners at the AF Adderley Gymnasium.