The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

A PAIR of teams advanced to the semi-finals in the New Providence Basketball Association Division I playoffs Saturday night with sweeps in both series.

The University of the Bahamas Mingoes and the Rockets will now face off for the league’s Vince Ferguson Division title and a berth to the 2018 championship.

The Mingoes completed a two-game sweep over the JD’s Seafood Shockers with a 79-72 win.

Kemsey Sylvestre was a force on both ends of the floor and led four Mingoes players in double figures with 25 points, 18 rebounds, seven blocked shots and three assists. Justin Smith scored 19, Romero Cornish scored 13 and Christoph McKenzie finished with 12 for the UB lineup.

William Rigby led the Shockers with 25 points and 11 rebounds, Reuben Goodman added 21 points and eight rebounds while Shakwon Lewis flirted with a triple double – 13 points, nine assists and nine steals.

The Mingoes bench outscored the Shockers by six, but the Shockers held advantages in points in the paint (12) and points off turnovers (12).

The Shockers took an early 10-3 lead and led 17-15 at the end of the first quarter. The Mingoes took control with a 16-5 lead.

A Sylvestre jumper gave UB a 31-22 lead with 3:21 left to play in the half. The Shockers responded with a 10-2 run of their own capped by a Lewis jumper to pull within one (33-32) with 32 seconds left in the half. Sylvestre added a late dunk and a free throw to give UB a 36-32 lead at the half.

Tied at 36 and 38 the Shockers went ahead 44-41 on a Rigby layup and the first six minutes of the quarter featured five lead changes and four ties. The Mingoes went up 52-46 and led 58-50 headed into the fourth. A pair of scores to open the fourth pushed the lead to double digits and the Shockers never came within six points throughout the remainder of the fourth.

Defensively, the Mingoes limited the Shockers to just 29 per cent shooting from the field while they shot 41 per cent from the field themselves. The Shockers also made just one of their 26 three-point attempts and were outrebounded by 11 boards.

UB learned their opponent in the division finals when the Rockets closed out their series with a 111-106 win over the Leno Regulators in game two.

Eugene Bain continues to compete at an MVP level for the Rockets and finished with 25 points and 11 rebounds.

Lerecus Armbrister scored a game high 29 points and added six assists, Kevin Wright scored 19, Livingston Munnings scored 15 and Tomeko Moxey added 12.

Renardo Baillou finished with 23 points and 15 rebounds, Kenneth Pratt scored 19, Alexander Rolle finished with 14 and Cordero Thompson added 10.

Baillou made the game’s first score on a three, but the Rockets eventually went on to dominate a high scoring first quarter.

Trailing 12-7, the Rockets scored 10 unanswered points capped by a Lyndrick Storr layup. They took their first 10-point lead of the game, 29-19 on a Munnings free throw and led 33-21 at the end of the quarter.

The Regulators came within five late in the second but the Rockets still managed to take a 53-46 lead into the half.

The Rockets maintained a three-possession lead for much of the third before the Regulators mounted a final run in the fourth.

Baillou tied the game at 96 with his jumper with 1:58 left to play. After a tie again at 98, Baillou put his team ahead with a three just moments later but the Rockets went on a run of nine unanswered points.

Munnings scored a basket, then Moxey added six of his own. The Rockets made eight of nine at the line down the stretch to seal the win.

In the John Archer division, the PJ Stingers and Caro Contractors will play a third and deciding game at the AF Adderley Gymnasium tonight.

The winner will go on to face the Commonwealth Bank Giants in the semi-finals.

In Division II, the Aliv Bucket Team and Caro Contractors Resistance will also begin their semi-final series tonight.