The Tribune

By TENAJH SWEETING 

Tribune Sports Reporter 

tsweeting@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas Basketball Federation (BBF) Summer of Thunder basketball tournament matchups continued over the holiday weekend at the Kendal GL Isaacs Gymnasium.

The Bahamas All-Stars were back in action on Saturday against the University of Texas El Paso Miners who defeated them 98-80.

Otis Frazier III and Devon Barnes combined for 39 points in the win for the Miners. Frazier scored a game-high 23 points, pulled in six rebounds and defensively picked up seven steals. He shot 11-for-19, good for 58 per cent from the field.

Barnes ended the game with 16 points and 2 assists. He splashed 4-of-7 shots from long range and shot 67 per cent in the contest. The Miners jumped out to a narrow 12-7 advantage early on in the first quarter but the lead was short-lived as the Bahamas All-Stars eventually tied the score.

With the home team ahead 22-19, Barnes connected on one of his four threes at the end of the first quarter to tie the game at 22 apiece going into the second period of play.

The visiting team cracked open the second quarter with a 14-5 run to shift the score to 36-27 with less than five minutes to go.

Matthew Saunders, who scored 13 points, broke the Bahamas All-Stars’ shooting slump with back-to-back buckets to put the home team within 6 (38-32).

Despite the dry spell on offence early on, the ball game was still neck- and-neck at halftime. The Miners had a slim one-point advantage (40-39) ahead of the second half.

The game remained close through three quarters until the Miners dug deep late in the third to create a double digit deficit.

Frazier drained a three-pointer with less than two minutes remaining to give the University of Texas El Paso a 69-57 advantage.

The lead grew to 71-57 as the Miners outscored their opponents 31-18 to close out the third period.

In the fourth quarter, the Bahamas All-Stars simply ran out of gas. The Miners went up by as much as 20, their largest lead of the game, to put away the home team once and for all.

The Bahamas All-Stars had four players hit double digits. Richard Lowe paced the team with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Corey Sands pitched in 20 points and 6 boards. Saunders and Bryan Rolle turned in 13 and 10 points respectively.

The tale of the game was turnovers and bench points. The Miners forced the Bahamas All-Stars to commit 28 turnovers which translated into 34 points.

Their second unit also stepped up with 61 points compared to 16 scored by the home team.

The BBF Summer of Thunder basketball tournament rolls on tomorrow with the women’s basketball teams entering the fold. The New Providence Women’s Basketball Association (NPWBA) All-Stars are set to match up against the North Carolina A&T women’s basketball team at 6:30pm at the Kendal GL Isaacs Gymnasium.

The University of Victoria will battle the University of Rhode Island at 8:30pm in the Baha Mar resort.