… Guyana face Puerto Rico today at 15:00hrs

A GAME-HIGH 32 points from guard Kevon Wiggins was not enough to stop the Bahamas from hammering Guyana by 51 points (114-63) in their opening game of the 2017 Centrobasket U-17 Championship yesterday in the Dominican Republic.
Nigel Bowen (13 points) was the only other Guyanese in double digits, with Domnick Bridgewater scoring a team-high 27 points and eight steals for the Bahamas, while Grevaughn Goodman (23 points) and Samuel Hunter (17 points) were the other top scorers.
The Lugard Mohan-coached side will now face Puerto Rico today from 15:00hrs in their second game, where they will hope for an improved performance.
It was certainly not the type of start Mohan wanted, but the Guyanese were certainly not ready for the level of play the Bahamians brought to the floor in Santo Domingo.
Playing in the opening game of the championships, Guyana were outmatched at both ends of the floor, since the Bahamas team were bigger and faster and were more physical.
“We think that the only way that we could compete is by being aggressive on the defence,” Mohan had told Chronicle Sport prior to their departure, but it was the Bahamas who seemed more ready to play ball.
Bridgewater was the hot-hand for the Bahamas, who raced to a 41-10 point lead at the end of the first period.
In the second quarter, Goodman and Hunter joined Bridgewater and terrorised Mohan’s boys, but Wiggins remained the only resistance to the Bahamas defence.
Bahamas outscored Guyana 32-11 to close the first half leading by 52 points (73-21) but Wiggins sparked some life into the game with his relentless attack on the Bahamian’s defence in the third quarter.
The Guyanese guard, with 11 from 33 from the floor, carried Guyana to a 27-19 scoring blitz over Bahamas, but at the close of the penultimate stanza, the eventual winners still had a 92-48 points lead.
Guyana were down by 44 points starting the fourth quarter. Wiggins, with the help of Bowen, tried to shoot Guyana back into the game, but the Bahamas defence, coupled with a series of turnovers by the Guyanese, resulted in the blowout.
Statistically, the numbers showed just how clumsy Guyana were with the ball, finishing with 33 turnovers (12 more than the Bahamas). The Bahamas had a total of 22 steals (12 more than Guyana), and collectively, the team shot 64% from the floor as compared to Guyana’s 35%.
Bahamas scored 70 points in the paint (48 points more than Guyana), while both sides were miserable from beyond the arc (Bahamas 27.59%, Guyana 24%).
Meanwhile, speaking to Chronicle Sport after his team’s heavy defeat, Mohan said “Bahamas were by far the better team. I think all the players were tired and some were a little bit nervous and scared. If we had come out in the first quarter like we did in the third, the game would have been more competitive.”
“Remember just being here is a win for team Guyana, and much more if one player gets a scholarship that’s an added plus and what this is all about,” Mohan said.
Looking ahead to today’s game against Puerto Rico, Mohan stated, “If we can continue with the same attitude, effort, intensity and mentality from the second half of game one, to tomorrow’s (today’s) game, that would be a step in the right direction.”
The last time Guyana ever defeated the Bahamas in the sport of basketball was behind the Lugard Mohan-captained team at the 1996 CARICOM basketball Championship (now known as CBC tournament) which was hosted in Trinidad and Tobago, where they won 104-76.