Experienced Dynas Ravens ground Stabroek Eagles for title
ON Saturday evening, storied local basketball side Kitty Campbellville Dynas’ Ravens added the inaugural ‘One Guyana’ basketball title to their trophy cabinet.

Ravens took the win after showing all their experience to eclipse upstarts, Stabroek Eagles in the deciding clash of their three- match league playoff series final at the National Gymnasium in front of a full house.
Eagles, which had gone unbeaten into the playoff stage, suffered only their second loss in the playoffs, but it was the biggest moment on the biggest stage to surrender the title.

The battle-worn Ravens, led by skipper Dominic Vincente with 22 points, showed their mettle to blow out Eagles 76-63.
Ravens, who opened the series with a 2-point win, 78-76, were up against it after Eagles thrashed them, 67-59, in Game Two a week ago to even the series.

Ravens had their back against the wall from tip off, as livewire Shamar Huntley was out with a broken hand, and Jude Corlette was absent. But the team stepped up as a collective to fill the void.
The first period saw the scores level, 15-15, as both teams started cautiously.

However, the second quarter saw Ravens gaining the momentum as they played with more desperation and energy against a flat-looking Eagles side.
Eagles’ Adrian Hooper’s bewildering rotation strategy saw them quickly looking jaded and tired, as Ravens had their tail up and worked the shot clock to perfection.

Ravens game management kicked into overdrive as they started to pull out all their tactics to lead ,37-30, at the half.
While Eagles were not yet defeated, they started to lose shape in the third quarter as Ravens built on their lead to be up 56-44 going into the fourth quarter.

Owen Walton and veteran point guard Darcel Harris were fabulous for their team to record 12 and 14 points, respectively, to keep their team ahead.

Eagles’ Royston Richmond, who was warming the bench all night, finally got thrown into the game in the fourth period, and immediately had an impact as he dropped 12 points to give his team a fighting chance.
Ravens were led in the fourth by Vincente, who was awarded final MVP for his top score, with Seroual Clarke also scoring 10 buckets.

The Eagles, despite the loss, had 15 points from Travis Belgrave, with Michael Richards and Denzil Ross playing good minutes to finish with 12 points each.

Belgrave, who was phenomenal throughout his team’s historic run, was awarded the league’s MVP.
The seven-month-long league was sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, G-Boat Guyana, and the Guyana Basketball Federation.
Ravens collected the million-dollar winning purse, with half-a-million going to Eagles.