The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

AFTER falling short of their ultimate goal the last two seasons, the Commonwealth Bank Giants completed a perfect regular season, but head coach Perry Thompson Sr said it won't mean anything if they don't go all the way and win the New Providence Basketball Association men's division one title that they last hoisted three years ago.

In the grand finale of the regular season on Wednesday night at the AF Adderley Gymnasium, the Giants had to go to overtime before they prevailed with a 94-92 decision over the Rockets to take an unblemished 13-0 win-loss regular season in the John Archer division into the playoffs that will get started on Monday night.

"It was a very exciting season. We've been very close in the past two seasons, but having the best regular season, we went down with injuries," said Thompson Sr. "Perry Jr, who has been given the task of leading and coaching the team, has done a very good task of rebuilding and messing the team together with almost a whole new team, except for a couple of the older guys.

"But it seemed as if everybody brought into what we wanted to accomplish. We started out one game at a time and we slowly progressed. We thought that we would have been able to accomplish something fantastic if we won this last game. So hats off to the guys for making the sacrifice and the coaching staff for making us a part of history."

Trent Cox, one of the new additions, canned a pair of free throws with 14 seconds in the extra five minutes to put the Giants up 94-90 in Wednesday's game. The Rockets got a buzzer beating offensive rebound and a lay up from Eugene Bain, but it was just a little too short to ruin Commonwealth Bank's perfect regular season run.

At the end of regulation, Livingstone Munnings' basket with 42 seconds left for the Rockets tied the game at 82-82. They had a chance to seal the upset, but with just six seconds on the clock, Gamiliel Rose got a steal for the Giants as time ran out to force the extra period.

Michael Bain Jr led three other players in double figures for Commonwealth Bank with 22 points, seven rebounds and four steals. David Taylor came off the bench and contributed 20 points with four rebounds and three steals; Darstyn Baker had 15 points, two steals and two rebounds and Jeffrey Henfield had 14 points, three rebounds and as many steals.

Rose finished with eight points, 10 rebounds, three steals and two block shots and Karon Pratt added eight points. Cox was held to just three points with six rebounds and three assists in his start.

For the Rockets, who finished on top of the Vince Ferguson division at 9-4, Eugene Bain had a monster game with 26 points, 18 rebounds, two steals and two assists. Livingstone Munnings had 19 points, 16 rebounds, three blocks, three steals and two assists; Tomeko Moxey had 14 rebounds, three assists, three steals and two rebounds; Dominique Beadle had nine points and nine rebounds; Kevin Wright Jr also had nine off the bench and Lyndrick Storr had seven points, four assists and two steals.

The Rockets took an early 23-20 lead at the end of the first quarter that they held on as they took a 47-43 advantage at the half. However, the Giants went on a 17-11 spurt in the third to go up 60-58 after the third. The Rockets came back for a 24-22 run in the fourth to pull even at 82-82 before the Giants went on a 12-10 run of their own in overtime to clinch the win and the perfect season.

Now Thompson Sr said their sights is on the NPBA's postseason that starts on Monday night. They are scheduled to play the fourth place Rythm Rebels, who ended up in fourth place at 2-9.

"We have accomplished one goal so far," he said. "We basically have nine games to play in the playoffs, so we will take it one game at a time like we did in the regular season. Hopefully if we can perform at our best and be consistent as a team, then we stand a chance of winning it all."

Thompson Sr, however, know that it won't be an easy road and he's not taking anything for granted when the first round best-of-three playoffs begin to determine who will advance to the best-of-five championship series. At stake at the end of it all will be a chance to represent New Providence in the Bahamas Basketball Federation's National Round Robin Tournament next month.

"It all depends on who show up to play because we know our players have some commitments to their jobs," Thompson Sr said. "But if our whole team show up, it will be really be tough to beat us because the team is built very strong as compared to last year. All of the teams are great and we can't take any of them for granted. We will have to play our A game.

"We just have to keep the guys motivated and get them strong especially on the defensive end. If we can do that night after night and controlling the boards and making the right decisions, we stand a very good chance to win it all and possibly end the entire season undefeated. But we will see how that all unfolds in the playoffs."

In the earlier game played, the University of the Bahamas Mingoes knocked of the Caro Contractors Pirates 84-75 to close their regular season on a high note.

Mingoes 84, Pirates 75: Kemsy Sylvestre led two other players in double figures with a game high 30 points, eight rebounds, five blocks and three steals for the University of the Bahamas. Justin Smith had 18 points, 11 rebounds and four assists and Ramon Dames added 13 points with nine assists and three rebounds.

Dominique Fernander led Caro Contractors with 20 points and five rebounds; Donathan Johnson had 18 points and 10 rebounds and Tevin Hudson chipped in with 13 points, eight rebounds and five assists.

The NPBA will host its All-Atar weekend starting tonight and wrapping up on Saturday night at the AF Adderley Gymnasium before the postseason starts on Monday.

Going into the playoffs, here's how the teams finished in the standings:

Men's Division One

John Archer Division

Teams W L Pct. GB

Commonwealth Bank Giants 13 0 1,000 -

PJ Stingers 10 4 .714 31/2

Caro Contractors Pirates 6 7 .461 7

Rythm Rebels 2 9 .181 10

Vitamalt Chargers 0 10 .000 13

Vince Ferguson Division

Rockets 9 4 .892 -

JD's Seafood Shockers 9 4 .692 -

University of the Bahamas Mingoes 7 6 .538 2

Island Game Pros 1 12 .076 8

Men's Division II

Charles Mackey Division

Aliv Buckets 8 1 .888 -

Rockets D2 4 6 .400 41/2

Eagles Nest 3 7 .300 51/2

Johnson Trucking 0 2 .000 31/2

Godrey McQuay Division

Breezes High Flyers 9 1 .900 -

Caro Contractors Resistance 7 2 .777 11/2

Triple K Stampers 4 6 .400 5

Y-Cares Elites 3 6 .333 51/2