Sav Titans, Spartans star in WBA Championships
MONTEGO BAY, St James — The Western Basketball Association’s Men’s Championships got under way with a bang last weekend as two of the three games went to the wire with one-point victories.
On Saturday, Sav Elite Titans beat Knibb Thunder 49-48 at the Montego Bay Boys’ Club, while on Sunday, Herbert Morrison Spartans edged MoBay Community College Gladiators 67-66 in the battle of newcomers at the Montego Bay Community College.
In another game played Saturday, Montego Bay Boys’ Club Warriors beat another newcomer Holland Saints 63-24.
Two more games will be played this evening at the University of the West Indies-Western Campus, Cornwall Courts Chargers will face Lightning Blitz starting at 6:00 pm followed by UWI vs Avalanche at 7:30 pm.
On Saturday afternoon, Sav Elite Titans outscored Thunders 29-18 over the final two quarters after trailing by seven points, 20-27, at half-time.
Thunder led 17-9 after the first quarter as Shavaughn Reid scored 11 points and Alwayne Smith had 10 in a losing cause. Curtis Anderson led all scorers with 14 points and Richard Chambers had 13.
In the first game, Shedon Lyle scored 19 points to lead Boys’ Club Warriors to a 63-24 win, leading 13-2, 22-13 and 37-20 at the intervals.
Christopher Gibbons also scored 10 points for Warriors, last season’s beaten finalists, while Hugh Smith had 10 points for the newcomers Holland Saints.
On Sunday, Spartans rallied from a 10-point half-time deficit to beat Gladiators 67-66, despite Clifton Shettleworth and Nicholas Daye combining for 43 points.
Gladiators led 21-7 at the end of the first quarter, and 33-23 at half-time before Spartans started their comeback and cut into the lead at the end of the third quarter where they trailed by just three points, 41-44.
Spartans then outscored Gladiators by four points 26-22 in the final 10 minutes to eke out a close win.
David Peck had a double-double, 20 points and 14 rebounds, as well as three blocked shots for Spartans, and Gregory Wallace scored 14 points.
Shettleworth had a game-high 23 points and five rebounds, while Daye had 20 points.
