WITH just over five seconds remaining in the game, Ryan Stephney, fouled by Keon Cameron with the scores levelled at 70 points, headed to the free throw line to shoot two shots. 

He sank the first and missed the other but time did not permit Linden to respond as they fell to Georgetown 71-70 in game two of their Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF) Inter-Association tournament at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall last Sunday.
The national point guard had struggled all game, only scoring nine points on the night when fans were kept entertained with 40 pulsating minutes of basketball from some of the best players Guyana has to offer.

Cameron was called for ‘hand-checking’ by Referee Aubrey Young, who along with Lugard Mohan and Rawle Toney, carried the whistle for the game.
The call certainly did not go down well with the Linden supporters who voiced their disagreement; nonetheless it would go down as the play that handed Georgetown the much-needed win and possibly the GABF Inter-Association championship.
The game was close from jump ball and while spectators were vociferous from the get-go, they all refrained from making any bold predictions, especially after Linden came into the game having already won the previous meeting in the tournament 58-50.
Linden led the first period 17-15 and closed the half up by four (37-33). The men from the bauxite mining town were led by Dwayne ‘Brown Sugar’ Roberts, whom the Georgetown defence really couldn’t match, and he finished the night with 18 points and 13 rebounds.
But the contest in second half moved back and forth, with Georgetown being more aggressive offensively.
Led by Travis Burnett who poured in a game-high 21 points, coach Darcel Harris went with a small group, pairing Shelroy Thomas and Stephney in his back court and Akeem Kanhai and Jermaine Slater in the front court.
The result was exactly what he wanted; Georgetown closed the penultimate quarter leading 50-45 and setting up what turned out to be one the most exiting quarters of basketball played at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall for the year.
Linden’s coach Kevin ‘2-Feet’ Joseph installed Cameron, Chris Williams, Orin Rose, Roberts and Shane Webster to start the fourth quarter, forcing his City rival to counter with a similar line-up, playing Kanhai, Dominic Vincente, Burnett, Ryan Gullen and Dave Causeway.
From the outset, the plan was simple for Linden which was for them to get the ball inside to Webster or Roberts, as they were having a field day against the Georgetown ‘Bigs’ all night and the play in the fourth quarter didn’t change much.
Georgetown allowed their five-point cushion to slip away and before long, the two sides began to exchange baskets which saw the lead change hands steadily.
Cameron finished the night with 16 points, including some crucial baskets, but he also was careless with the ball and Georgetown’s hardnosed defence mostly converted into fast break baskets.
Williams, though, was kept at bay by Georgetown, who restricted his shooting game to just having him play point guard. He controlled the ball and the flow of the game well, but Linden could’ve really used his scoring.
Kanhai had eight points, Slater netted six and Thomas thirteen for Georgetown, who now await the result of the Linden/Berbice game to know if they will lift the trophy.
For Linden to win this year’s championship, they will have to beat Berbice by more than 74 points since Georgetown inflicted a 74-point drubbing (116-42) on the men from the Ancient County.
Linden and Berbice will face each other this weekend at the Mackenzie Sports Club Hard Court.