By Charwayne Walker

PROBABLY only three players in Caribbean basketball could boast of scoring 40 or more points in a CARICOM Championship game.

The players with that distinction are Jamaicans – former NBA pros Andrew Kennedy and Rumeal Robinson. The other is unknown in international basketball circles. His name is Stanton Rose Jr from Guyana’s Region 10, the same region that produced two-time CARICOM All Star guard Auric Tappin. Unlike his two more illustrious 40-point colleagues, Rose’s rise to stardom was without international exposure.

Andrew Kennedy was the first to register a 40-point game at the CARICOM Championship level when he scored 45 points against Martinique at the YMCA Hard Court in Bridgetown, Barbados in 1985.

Andrew Kennedy studied at the University of Virginia and was drafted by Dallas Mavericks in 1987. He was the 43rd pick. He also played professionally in Israel for 12 years, Spain and Italy.

His compatriot Rumeal Robinson scored 40 points against Trinidad & Tobago in the 1996 CARICOM Championship final at the St Paul’s Gymnasium in Port of Spain, Trinidad. Robinson went to the University of Michigan and was drafted by Atlanta Hawks in 1990 with the 10th pick.

He also played for New Jersey Nets, Charlotte Hornets, Portland Trail Blazers, Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers.  

Stanton Rose scored 41 points against St Vincent and the Grenadines at the Anthony Nesty Sports Hall 2018 in Paramaribo, Suriname.

Strange enough, unlike his predecessors, Rose was just 18 years old, the youngest at the Caribbean Basketball Championship to achieve this feat.

Here are some other individual performances for Guyana at FIBA-sponsored tournaments.

Keron McKenzie – 38 points vs St Vincent & the Grenadines, Isaacs Kennedy Gymnasium, Nassau, Bahamas (2011)

Stanislaus Hadmon – 34 points vs Barbados – Sports Hall, Georgetown, Guyana (1981)

Gordon Klaiber – 34 points vs Antigua & Barbuda, Puerto Rico (2007)

Ray Victor – 28 points vs Suriname, Anthony Nesty Sports Hall, Paramaribo, Suriname (2018)

Auric Tappin – 27points vs Jamaica, National Arena, Kingston, Jamaica (1991)

Steven Nurse – 27 points vs Trinidad & Tobago, Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, Georgetown, Guyana (1994)

Lorenzo Withrite – 27 points vs Jamaica, St Paul’s Gymnasium, Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago (1996)

Rawle Marshall -28 points vs St Vincent & the Grenadines, Multipurpose Gymnasium, Tortola, US Virgin Islands (2014)

Lugard Mohan – 26points vs US Virgin Islands, St Garfield Sobers Gymnasium, Bridgetown, Barbados (2000)

Lugard Mohan – 26 points vs Belize, Sir Garfield Sobers Gymnasium, Bridgetown, Barbados (2000)

Nigel Hinds – 25 points on Debut vs Barbados, YMCA Hard Court, Bridgetown, Barbados (1985)

Auric Tappin – 25 points vs Antigua & Barbuda, National Sports Hall, Georgetown, Guyana (1988)

Keron McKenzie – 25 points vs US Virgin Islands, Isaacs Kennedy Gymnasium, Nassau, Bahamas (2011)

Ray Victor – 25 points vs Barbados, Anthony Nesty Sports Hall, Paramaribo, Suriname (2018)

Leon Christian – 24 points vs Suriname, Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, Georgetown, Guyana (1994)

Lugard Mohan – 24 points vs Jamaica, Sir Garfield Sobers Gymnasium, Bridgetown, Barbados (2000)

Gordon Klaiber – 24 points vs US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico (2007)

Kevon Creppy – 24 points vs Bahamas, Puerto Rico (2007)

Gordon Klaiber – 24 points vs Bahamas, Puerto Rico (2007)