COLTS and Linden’s Half Mile Bulls were the first two teams to advance to the semi-finals of the Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF)-organised Forbes Burnham Memorial championship when the eight-team tournament bounced off at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall on Saturday night. Colts easily got by another Linden club, the Amelia’s Ward 60-54 while Bulls had to fight hard for their 77-73 victory over Plaisance Guardians.
Led by team-high 19 points from their captain and marksman Terron Welsh and 16 points from Terrence James who hit two crucial free-throws, the Bulls picked up the win.
With 10 seconds remaining in the game and the Bulls up by two points (75-73), James was fouled and went to the ‘charity line’ and converted both shots.
The Guardians continued to be careless with the ball and had their inbound pass intercepted by the Bulls who had enough time to drain the clock.
Michael Turner added ten points to the Bulls’ total while Kevin Easton scored nine points and Jason Blair eight.
Explosive point guard Nikkoloi Smith poured in a game-high 39 points for the Guardians and Trenton Woolford chipped in with 16 points in a losing cause.
Earlier in the contest, Plaisance Guardians took control of the first quarter 19-14. But in the second period, the Linden team outscored the Guardians to take a 36-31 lead at the close of the first half.
The Lindeners kept their feet on the gas and outscored the Guardians 20-19 and closed the penultimate period leading 56-50 heading into the final stanza.
With Welsh in form, though the Bulls had no stop for the Guardians’ Smith, the Linden unit kept control of the game.
The tournament continued last evening with another double-header at the same venue with the Retrieve Raiders clashing with Pacesetters and Ravens and Royals meeting in the second game.
Winners of the championship will pocket $100 000, while the second-placed team will collect $60 000 and third-placers $40 000. Trophies and medals will be awarded to the top three clubs. Trophies will be presented to the Most Valuable Player, Best Uniformed Team and Most Disciplined Team.