TORTOLA, British Virgin Islands, (CMC)- Bahamas and Cuba were early winners on the opening day of the 22nd Caribbean Basketball Championships (CBC) in the Multisport Complex of Tortola, British Virgin Islands yesterday.Bahamas dominated St. Vincent and the Grenadines 84-53 while Cuba overwhelmed Antigua 82-56 in two of four matches scheduled.
Bahamas started the game on an 8-0 run but the Vincentians stormed back thanks to an eight point effort by Sean Baptiste in the first quarter.
But, by mid-second quarter Bahamas took over and broke the game open ending the first half with a 24 point lead, 46-22.
Alonzo Hinds was the top scorer for Bahamas with 14 points, along with 6 rebounds; while Baptiste led St. Vincent & the Grenadines with 16.
Meantime Cuba was virtually unstoppable as well coasting to their resounding win over Antigua.
Louis Haiti top scored with a game high 20 points with 15 rebounds while William Granda sank 15.
Ernest Scott led for the Antiguans with 17 points and received support from Jerome Richardson on 16.
The other two matches scheduled for late last night were Barbados against Virgin Islands and British Virgin Islands against Guyana.
Today, Bahamas faces Antigua while St. Vincent & the Grenadines looks to earn their first win against Cuba.
The last edition of the CBC was played in 2011 in Bahamas, with Virgin Islands winning the Gold medal in a thriller against the home team.
The championship awards three spots to the 2014 Centrobasket Championship which in turn awards four spots to the 2015 FIBA Americas Championship.