IN one of the most exciting games played for the year, Team-Guyana saw its hopes of a third game in the best-of-three series dashed as their second game finished 66-63,in favour of Suriname. The home side, facing a must win situation, overcame a 14-point Suriname lead but were unable to hold on until the end.For Guyanese fans, the game could not have had a better start,since Guyana jumped out to a 19-15 first quarter lead behind the scoring of Travis Belgrave, Stanton Rose and Nathan Saul. The team would ride the momentum into the second quarter to lead 29-24 at the half-time break. Offensively, the team was in rhythm, hitting shots and beating the defensive press that Suriname had instituted in the first game.
At the start of the second half,however,Guyana struggled a bit on the offensive end, finding it hard to score. The turnover battle also started to slip away from Guyana,who gave the ball away 6 times in this quarter. Suriname had two back-to-back dunks off two turnovers by Yamill Wip and Donyell Samson, which gave them some momentum. The quarter finished 45-41 with Guyana down by 4.
The fourth quarter seemed all but over as Guyana went almost 5 minutes without a basket while Suriname piled on the lead to 14. It was at this point that in almost movie-like fashion Troy “Rambo” David entered the game;coming on as a sub after a break in play.
. David went on a 15-point blitz;hitting back-to-back threes, scoring a layup, hitting another step-back three,scoring another layup and a free throw. At that point the Guyanese supporters went wild and it truly seemed as if Guyana would win the game. Everything was going the team’s way, up to the 1:08 second mark when the team led by 4.
David stated “I knew we were down and I did what I had to do”. However,it wasn’t enough as with 23.9 seconds left in the game, Emile LaRose of Suriname was fouled late in the shot clock and stepped to the line for two free throws. He hit both,giving Suriname the lead. Guyana would once again try to score but the stiff defence of Suriname kept them in the game as LaRose came up with a steal to extend the lead to three points.
With 10 seconds left on the clock, Saul tried to draw a foul but there was no call and the game was over. It was a heartbreaking loss for the home side who,despite missing 19 free-throws and recording 21 turnovers,were less than a minute away from a win.
For Guyana, Rose poured in 21 points, David had 15,while Belgrave and Saul finished with 12 and 10 respectively. For Suriname,Dancell Leter finished with 17,Yamill Wip finished with 13 while Bjoron Ewijk finishing with 10. Emile LaRose had 9 points with 5 of those being crucial.
Following the loss,Guyana’s coach Junior Hercules stated “We had good moments, but we failed to have consistent moments. It’s disappointing but it’s basketball.”
Suriname’s coach Earl Sabajo stated that “This team has a lot of character;the feeling of winning this type of game is indescribable.”
The series finished 2-0 and the loss saw Suriname taking home gold in both male and female basketball.