Ravens pluck Eagles; Colts pull team
DYNA’S Ravens plucked their Eagles counterparts’ wings when action in the Turbo Hard Court Championships continued at the Plaisance hard court on Wednesday.Winning with a 50-42 scoreline in their U-23 fixture, the Ravens were led by Sebastian Luke who was the top scorer for both sides with 16 points and nine rebounds. He was assisted by Nduko Horatio and Murtland Ward who poured in nine points apiece.
On the Eagles side, Lyndon Wilson led the way with 10 points while Darroll Williams was the next highest scorer with nine.
The game was tied 10-10 at the end of the first period. However, Ravens took control and outscored Eagles 14-12 to lead 24-22 at halftime.
Their lead was extended in the third quarter by 11 points while they restricted their opponents to seven points entering the final stanza, ahead at 35-29.
Ravens sealed the hard-fought contest as they outshot Eagles 15-13 in the fourth period. Action in the event is set to continue today at the same venue.
The overall divisional winners of the event will be the teams who win two of the three stages. Winners of the opening stage held at the Burnham Court were Ravens and Pacesetters in the Open and U-23 sections respectively.
Meanwhile in the second game of the night Plaisance Guardians U-23 were awarded a walkover against Bounty Colts.
Colts at the start of play had 4 players, and were in need of a fifth, so club president Michael Singh lobbied to have Road to Mecca 3 MVP Stanton Rose suit up.
Rose, a member of Colts, was disbarred from playing due to the rules of the tournament, which stated that teams could not make any changes to their game lists after finishing three games in the tournament.
According to Guyana Amateur Basketball Association president Junior Hercules, Singh pulled his team from the tournament after finding out Rose could not play.
“The rules of the tournament clearly stipulate that teams are not allowed to make any additions or subtractions from their lists after playing three games. Even if players are overage or injured, the fixed list remains the same,” stated Hercules.
“Rose’s name was not on the list and he could not play. When informed of this fact, Singh stated if Rose could not play his team would not be competing in the tournament,” Hercules added.
However, according to Singh, he simply asked for Rose to replace an overage player on the list so that the game could proceed.
“My team had several injuries as well as three overage players, and at the start time of the game, there were only four players at the game with one player on the way. I enquired if Rose could play and I was told that no provisions could be made,” stated Singh.
Singh then told Hercules that was not in the best interest of basketball and the rules were hurting teams, preventing teams from participating and it would make no sense continuing in the tournament.
“I only have 6 players, 3 players are 23 and told they cannot play. However, the rules did not state anywhere that at 23 you were ineligible to play. The same three players that are over-aged played earlier games.
“The walkover sees not only Colts U-23 out of the tournament but also the first division side who were pulled out after Wednesday night’s incident.
