WISMAR Pistons got their act going when they played their second game of the Linden Amateur Basketball Association (LABA)-organised Malta Supreme Magnificent Seven Christmas basketball championship, with an impressive win over BOSAI Open Challenge championship winners Half Mile Bulls, last Wednesday night, at the Mackenzie Sports Club hard-court.

Also chalking up a victory on the same night were Amelia’s Ward Jets who did so for a second time in as many matches, by defeating Block 22 Flames 63-44.
The Pistons were denied a chance to play the BOSAI Open Challenge tournament after they did not turn up for the march past, but showed they deserved to be there despite such a hiccup, with their win over Bulls.
In the first game the Jets eased to their 63-44 victory as they controlled their opponents early with a first-quarter score 16-8, and at halftime were up 30-17.
When the fourth quarter began, the Jets were in cruise control 43-32 heading to another win as they continued to be among the favourites in this championship, led by their ‘big man’ centre Shane Webster who jammed in 15 points as Rodwell Pellew shot in nine and Leonard Caleb eight.
For the Flames, Devon Morrison equalled the game’s best score connecting on five 3-point shots as teammate Aubrey Johnson had 14.
The Bulls halted the BOSAI champions’ celebrations which began about two weeks ago after they won the LABA’s previous competition, as they condemned the Bulls to their first loss in their opening game of this present competition.
It was by no means a walkover for the Pistons and the scores would suggest that it was indeed a tough game, as Trevor Profitt marked his return to championship basketball with a leading score of 18 points for the Bulls, with solid support from Sherwin Sargeant who got 11 and Nevin Grenville with seven.
The first quarter saw the Bulls behind 13-16 but they responded to the challenge and nudged ahead when lemon-time whistle blew at 26-25.
But the Pistons reclaimed the lead and were ahead when the third quarter was completed (40-33) and the battle was on in the final period of the game.
With a little over two minutes left in the game, Michael Turner nailed one from behind the arc to knot the scores at 45, but Profitt answered with one from beyond the arc for a 48-45 edge.
In the end Profitt and Sargeant steered the Pistons to their win in the final minute of the game making sure their team were in with a chance of advancing from the round-robin stage of this championship.
Once again Turner and Keon Cameron were the top performers for the Bulls, with the former scoring 14 points and the latter 10.
The competition continues tomorrow with two more matches at the same venue, where Victory Valley Royals will take on Half Mile Bulls in the first matchup and Retrieve Raiders and Kashif and Shanghai Kings will clash in the second