The Tribune

By TENAJH SWEETING

Tribune Sports Reporter

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

THE Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) Rampage and Police Crimestoppers kept their early season momentum going this past weekend for the Bahamas Government Departmental Basketball Association (BGDBA).

With less than one month removed from the young season’s start, the Rampage have put together a three-game winning streak following two weekend wins over the 3-3 (win/loss record) Beat and Teach Clinic Sharks and ninth-seeded Customs Taxmen.

Additionally, the Crimestoppers handled business against the Police Royals to remain undefeated with a 6-0 record in the league.

Rampage vs Taxmen

The Rampage collected their third straight win this past weekend at the AF Adderley Gymnasium.

Their most recent victory came in a double digit 18-point win over the Taxmen. The game was competitive in the opening period between the two government teams with the difference being a mere six points (21-15) after the first period of play.

However, the second quarter of the game saw the RBDF team widen the gap by 19 points following some impressive play from Oral Rahming.

He led the team in scoring and rebounds with 19 points with nine rebounds and shot a scorching hot 73% from the field.

Otis Ferguson Jr chipped in 18 points along with five assists, and got two steals on the defensive end.

Following the halftime break, the Rampage continued their dominance on offence, jumping out to a 52-28 lead at the 3:28 mark in the third period.

Ultimately, the Taxmen were unable to stop the Rampage who won 76-58.

The RBDF squad shot an efficient 57.4% from the field, meanwhile, the

Taxmen only converted on 35.3% of their field goals. The Rampage also made their opponents pay at the charity stripe, swishing 11 of their 14 free throw attempts on 78.6% shooting. The Taxmen only managed to get to the line five times and only made two of their attempts.

In their first win of the weekend, the Rampage defeated the Sharks 65-53. Ferguson Jr and Rahming put up 16 points and 14 points apiece, proving to be instrumental for the team once again.

Bob Hudson, head coach of the Rampage, said the win felt good coming off a back-to-back game against the Sharks while being short-handed due to injuries. “It feels good, the guys played well. We had three guys injured last night but they played through it… Some of the players are off the island so we played short-handed but we came out with the victory for three in a row which is a sign that we are trending in the right direction,” Hudson said.

Crimestoppers vs Royals

The undefeated Crimestoppers reeled off their sixth straight win against the Royals in a 25-point drubbing. The 6-0 team demoralised the Royals from the opening tip, running out to a 12-0 unanswered lead in the first quarter. The Royals’ Spurgeon Johnson stopped the bleeding by splitting a pair of free throws at the line but the team was unable to score their first bucket until the 6:28 mark in the game.

The Crimestoppers held the Royals to single digits in the first period, closing out the quarter leading 28-7.

Michael ‘Furley’ Bain Jr checked into the game with 8:22 remaining in the second quarter and immediately got to work.

He drained a quick two-pointer and followed it up with two relatively uncontested layups.

Bain did not stop there. The guard splashed a three-pointer to push the lead to 45-16. He scored 12 of his 14 points in this period to head into halftime.

The Crimestoppers got the lead up to as much as 30 points in the second half, and coasted to the win the rest of the way. The team had five players score in double digits and dropped 10 three-pointers in the comfortable win.

Lavardo Bowleg, head coach of the Crimestoppers, said the team wanted to come out and have fun and show their identity while playing to the best of their abilities. Although the season is still new, he expects the team to get even better along the way.

Cybots vs BDOC Challengers

The Bain and Grants Town Cybots routed the Challengers 74-53 in a 21-point win. Things were evenly matched in the initial quarter which closed out 16-14 favouring the Cybots.

However, in the second period of play, the latter turned up the heat and stretched the lead to 16 points headed into halftime. Despite trailing the majority of the game, the Challengers were able to trim the lead down to nine points (55-46) at the 6:08 mark in the fourth quarter.

Although the Challengers seemed poised to mount a last-minute comeback, the Cybots held on for the win.

Wayde Watson, head coach of the Cybots, talked about the importance of pace in the double-digit victory.

“We were just running our sets because we knew we could beat that team… It wasn’t about running up and down playing fast basketball, we just wanted to get some practice in and get some of our guys acclimated and build chemistry,” the coach said.

Watson also had a message for the rest of the league.

“Once we get our chemistry together we should be good. The Bain and Grants Town Cybots will be in the championships guaranteed,” he added.

The BGDBA basketball games will continue today at 7pm. The Bamboo Shack Patrollers face the Police Royals in game one.

Additionally, the Challengers will look to avenge this weekend’s loss against the Airport Authority Avengers at 8:30pm.