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Jedaiah King and Jason Best combined to help Royalty Basketball Academy sink Maloney Pacers to its second straight loss in the Men’s First Division of the Lincoln “Cripple” Griffith North Zone Basketball League at the Woodbrook Youth Facility in Port-of-Spain on Sunday.
Pacers, the defending champions, aiming to bounce back from their first loss in two years–falling to Spartans TT 100-78 last week–struggled at the start despite the effort of Freedom Leon. Leon netted 10 of his 20 points in the period, as his team trailed 30-23 at the end of the first quarter. Royalty’s long-range shots were key to its advantage, hitting six three-pointers for its seven-point lead.
In the second quarter, King’s accuracy from beyond the three-point arc enabled Royalty to maintain control. He hit three straight three-pointers for nine of his 11 points in the period to keep Royalty ahead 53-47 at the half.
But Pacers refused to go away and on the resumption, led by Hakeem Morgan, who scored a match-high 24 points, netting eight in the session, rallied back to outscore Royalty 26-20 to tie the scores at 73 at the close of the third. Best kept up the fight for Royalty, scoring 10 of his 22 points.
However, the reigning national champions could not maintain the intensity in the fourth quarter as Royalty, with contributions from Khushaiah King (16) along with his namesake King and Best, fought back to regain the lead and ran away with the 14-point win.
Earlier, Coach KG Elite dominated D Rookies 99-62 in a Boys’ Under-17 Division match. Elite established an early 17-12 lead, stretching it to 50-33 by halftime and 69-46 in the third. Lance Crouch scored 28, Jurrell Charles 24, and Terrel Lewis 14 for the winner. Isaiah Westfield and Antonio Charles each replied with 12 for D Rookies.
In Tuesday’s Men’s Second Division action, Caledonia Clippers recovered from an early deficit to overwhelm Royalty 97-51. Royalty held a slim 23-21 lead after the opening quarter, but the Clippers surged ahead 54-31 by halftime and extended it to 83-38 in the third. Akile Painter led the Clippers with 17 points, supported by Kendell Gutierrez’s 13, while Bryon Sanch and Akil La Roach added 12 each. Meanwhile, Marcus Young paced Royalty with 15 points in the loss.
The second fixture saw Spartans TT control their matchup to defeat Val New Generation 77-68. Spartans established a 16-13 lead in the first quarter, pulling away 37-28 at halftime and holding a comfortable 62-46 advantage by the third. Shornell Pompey delivered a splendid 30-point performance for Spartans, while Zane Peters contributed 20. Val New Generation’s effort was led by Seefan Davis with 20 points and Richard Munro with 13.
Results
Men’s First Division
Maloney Pacers 86 (Hakeem Morgan 24, Freedom Leon 20, Hasseem Best 18, Judah Guy 13) vs Royalty 100 (Jedaiah King 23, Jason Best 22, Khushaiah King 16). Quarters: 1st 30-23 (Royalty, 2nd 53-47 (Royalty), 3rd 73-73.
Boys’ U-17 Division
Coach KG Elite 99 (Lance Crouch 28, Jurrell Charles 24, Terrel Lewis 14) vs D Rookies 62 (Isaiah Westfield 12, Antonio Charles 12, Jerel Euin 11). Quarters: 1st 17-12, 2nd 50-33, 3rd 69-46 (All in favour of Elite)
Men’s O-45 Division
East West Veterans 50 (Ryan Spencer 13, Dexter Morien 10) vs Defence Force Veterans 79 (Kevin Williams 22, Nate Toney 18, Kervis King 11, Lincoln Charles 10). Quarters: 1st 18-10, 2nd 39-28, 3rd 57-44 (All in favour of Def Force Veterans)
Tuesday
Men’s Second Division
Royalty 51 (Marcus Young 15, Jaquin Simon 11) vs Caledonia Clippers 97 (Akile Painter 17, Kendell Gufierre 13, Bryon Sanch 12, Akil La Roach 12). Quarters: 1st 23-21 (Royalty), 2nd 54-31 (Clippers), 3rd 83-38 (Clippers).
Spartans TT 77 (Shornell Pompey 30, Zane Peters 20) vs Val New Generation 68 (Seefan davis 20, Richard Munro 13). Quarters: 1st 16-13, 2nd 37-28, 3rd 62-46 (All in favour of Spartans)
Today’s matches
Boys’ U-17 Division
Basic Bball Academy vs D Rookies, 10 am
Coach KG Elite vs Royalty, 12 noon
Men’s Second Division
UTT Patriots vs T&T 3×3 Academy, 2 pm
Trailblazers vs Coach KG Elite, 4 pm
Men’s First Division
Defence Force vs Basic Basketball Academy, 6 pm
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