Following the completion of round one action in the Antigua and Barbuda Basketball Association’s (ABAA) top tier on Thursday, Division 2 took action took centre stage at the JSC basketball complex on Saturday night with triumphs for promotion hopefuls Flyers 2 and Spanish Heat, both winning by three points.
Contesting the feature game of a double-header, Spanish Heat fought off a gallant challenge from a determined Fearless Crew, winning the contest 82-79. Spanish Heat started strong, outscoring Fearless Crew 19-16 in the opening quarter. Fearless Crew rebounded big to take the second quarter 21-12 before Heat pulled away in the third, outscoring the opponents 28-18. Fearless Crew outscored Spanish heat by a slim 24-23 margin in the fourth but it was not enough to take home the victory.
Jesus Emmanuel led for Spanish Heat of the bench, scoring 26 points on nine of 20 shooting while grabbing 10 rebounds. Wester Baptiste contributed to the victory with 23 points and four rebounds while there were contributions of 13 and 12 points respectively from Charlie Daniel and Erwin Rodriguez. Daniel also grabbed 17 rebounds while Rodriguez snatched 13.
In a losing effort, Takeem Martin was the top performer for fearless Crew with 23 points and 14 rebounds while Rifiki Harris just missed a triple-double with 22 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists.
In Saturday’s opening clash, Flyers 2 edged Pheonix 58-55 in another close encounter.
Hansel Piper led the charge for Flyers with 17 points and nine rebounds while Amare Browne sank 13 points and pulled three defensive rebounds. Rashaun Harry came up big on the defensive end with 13 rebounds for the winners.
Daysher Samuel, in a losing effort for phoenix, shot a game-high 23 points and grabbed five rebounds. Shalom Bloodman contributed with 14 points and seven rebounds.
