THE University of The Bahamas men’s basketball team dropped to the Leno Regulators 76-63 in an inconsequential New Providence Basketball Association game Saturday night at The A.F. Adderley Gym.
Erquantae Edgecombe led The Mingoes with 18 points and 10 rebounds while Gabriel Styles scored 11 points in the game that didn’t have any impact on either team’s position in the standings.
Zachery Pennerman scored 24 points for The Regulators and Kemsey Sylvestre scored 23 for The Regulators.
The Mingoes started the game off strong, going up 6-0 early in the first quarter capped by a Justin Burrows layup assisted by Delano Armbrister.
The Regulators cut the lead and tied the game at 6-6 and ended the quarter up 18-14.
The Regulators held the lead for the rest of the game even though The Mingoes cut the lead to three points with 5:02 left in the fourth quarter.
Off a defensive rebound, Delano Armbrister had the brilliant pass to Erquantae Edgecombe to pick up the easy lay-up to put the score at 62-59.
Regulators then went on a 9-0 run and ended the game 76-63. “We were right there with five minutes to go but we couldn’t seem to string together enough buckets in order to take the lead,” head coach Bacchus Rolle said. “We also didn’t get the defensive stops that we wanted to either. The Regulators are a tough team and played really good out there tonight. We just didn’t make the stops when we needed it.”
Despite winning the rebounding battle—58 compared to The Regulators’ 51—The Mingoes couldn’t convert the rebounds into points.
The Mingoes now move on to play The Caro Contractors Shockers in the first round of the playoffs. The first game is set for 8:30pm tonight and game two is set for 7pm on Saturday, March 18 with both games at the A.F. Adderley Gym.
The Shockers beat the Mingoes in both meetings this season. The Shockers won 76-56 November 26, 2022 and 67-58 January 13 2023.
“We aren’t doing too bad for a team that was only supposed to win two games all seasons,” Rolle added. “I am happy and proud of my guys for making it this far we are going into the series optimistically. We are going to have to slow the ball down because they are a very fast team and their guards are lightening quick. We also need to try force turnovers from their big men as well.”
The game Saturday night was inconsequential because both teams advanced to the playoffs and regardless of the outcome, neither team’s playoff position would have changed.
The Mingoes had already secured the third spot in the Vince Fergusons division with a 6-7 record.
The Regulators had already secured the third spot in the John Archer division with an 8-5 record.
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