THE 2024 edition of One Guyana Basketball League tipped off on Saturday Evening last at the National Gymnasium Hard Court with defending champions Ravens and Eagles taking statement victories Defending One Guyana League Ravens, coming off their win in the Guyana Basketball Elite 16 knock-out tournament recently, showed their pedigree with a 25-point win over Mambas 75-50.
It was a close contest in the first period before Ravens began to pull away heading into the break, as the likes of Nikkoloi Smith and Alroy Nurse started to come into their own.

They would lead at the half 32-21, Mambas showed more fight in the third quarter as they were outscored 21-16 as Ravens extended their advantage 53-37.
Ravens’ Nurse, who ended with 14 points was instrumental with Smith hitting 13 points; the duo had support from Terrence Daniels with 12 and  Altila Williamson with 14 points as they cruised to the victory.

On the losing side Jared Sears had a game-high 20 points, but his side was unable to mount a strong enough collective effort to give the champions a tough fight.
Meanwhile, 2023 finalist Eagles also got a winning start to their 2024 campaign with a 12-point win over the University of Guyana Trojans 82-70.

UG Trojans opened the clash with a first-quarter lead of three points 19-16 before Eagles flipped the script in the second period to lead by four points after the second quarter, 34-30.
Eagles coming off their second finals loss against Ravens in the GBF Elite 16 KO competition then produced an even more impressive showing in the third period to lead 59-46, as their skipper Travis Belgrave dominated with 22 points and Zion Gray 21 points to take the game away.

UG’s Kadeem Peterkin with 17 points and Jushawn Bayley with 12 buckets tried to keep their team in the contest.
However, Eagles role players Denzil Ross (10), Timothy Richards (12) and Michael Turner (13) made all the difference as they played with composure to close out the encounter to win it 82-70 to get their league campaign off to the best possible start.
The tournament is sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport.