The Tribune

THE busy summer for the Bahamas Basketball Federation (BBF) continued with the Summer of Thunder basketball tournament which is now in full swing after weekend action at the Kendal GL Isaacs Gymnasium.

A pair of Bahamian basketball teams took the court against the University of North Carolina Wilmington Seahawks on Saturday and Sunday.

The visiting team earned a comfortable victory against the Bahamas All-Stars 103-67 in the tournament opener on Saturday. 

The Seahawks’ game against Raw Talent Elite went down to the wire yesterday but they escaped 109-104.

Seahawks vs Raw Talent Elite

With a combination of young ballers and seasoned veterans representing the home team, the Raw Talent Elite basketball squad put on a show for the home crowd against the Seahawks on Sunday.

Domnick Bridgewater, who recently signed with Champagne Basket, had the hottest hand in the Kendal GL Isaacs Gymnasium. He paced both teams on the stat sheet with a game-high 53 points, five  assists and two steals. Bridgewater also caught fire from deep, canning 10 makes from long range.

Veteran men’s national basketball team member Jaraun ‘Kino’ Burrows got in on the hooping action as well and dropped 24 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals in a complete effort.

Burrows, who coaches and plays with the team, spoke about the end result.

“I am really happy about the result today. I think we were down by three in the fourth quarter with a chance to tie the game. These are million dollar programmes that train and have the best everything but we are just coming together. 

“I have a 13-year-old, 15-year-old and 16-year-old along with two other high school players. 

“I am really happy about the way that they played, complementing the professional guys like Zane Knowles and Domnick Bridgewater. Hats off to Domnick Bridgewater who had 53 points today. The kid is one of the best up and coming rising stars in Europe. I am just happy with the way we represented the programme and for The Bahamas,” he said.

After falling behind  by seven (34-27) going into the second period, Bridgewater followed up a dunk thrown down by pro player Zane Knowles with a slam of his own to give the Raw Talent Elite the lead 35-34.

Despite Bridgewater’s hometown cooking, the Seahawks created a 10-point separation at the halftime break to go into the second half on top 58-48. 

Burrows and Bridgewater proved to be the perfect one-two punch on offence leading into the home stretch. The veteran big man got some big buckets late in the third and helped to shave the lead down to two (78-76) with 1:29 remaining in the third quarter. 

The Seahawks maintained their lead to start the last quarter of play. Khamari McGriff, who wrapped up with a team-high 20 points,  kept the Seahawks in control with an easy layup made at the midway mark of the fourth quarter. UNC was ahead 97-90 at this juncture of the game. Although it appeared as if the Seahawks were well on their way to victory, Bridgewater splashed back-to-back three-pointers to shift the score to 107-104 with just 13 seconds on the game clock. 

Donavan Newby would pick up two freebies at the charity stripe to ice the game for the visitors.

Burrows said he is excited to be back at home spending time and playing with the highschoolers, collegiate players and pro players in the Summer of Thunder basketball tournament. 

UNC Wilmington had five players hit the double-digit mark. McGriff poured in 20 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks. Josh Corbin was equally as impressive with 19 points, 3 assists and 3 steals. The team collectively shot 53.2 per cent in the win and outrebounded Raw Talent Elite 48 to 38.

Bahamas All-Stars vs UNC Wilmington

Earlier in the weekend, UNC Wilmington dished out a 36-point beating to the Bahamas All-Stars. The collegiate team once again had five players eclipse double digits.

Jamison was the top performer for the Seahawks. He cruised to a team-high 21 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals.

The Bahamas All-Stars got some quality minutes from Richard Lowe, who delivered 21 points, 13 rebounds and 2 assists in the loss.

Summer of Thunder presented by the BBF continues on Tuesday at the Kendal GL Isaacs Gymnasium and Baha Mar resort. 

Tuesday’s double header features the Bahamas All-Stars versus East Carolina University at 3:30pm. 

Raw Talent Elite takes on the University of Louisville later in the evening at 7pm at Baha Mar.