Road to Mecca V at CASH… Pacesetters suffer 1st defeat, Eagles woes continue and Canje Knights lose opening game

Apr 15, 2018 Sports

From left, Knight’s Steven Roopnarine puts pressure on Raiders Selwyn Henry following a throw-in during their game on Friday night at CASH which Raiders won.

The National Club Basketball Championship, which is dubbed ‘Road to Mecca V’ and hosted by the Guyana Amateur Basketball Federation (GABF), is gaining momentum as teams continue to go at each other in fierce round-robin action within the two groups. The top two clubs from both of the six-team groups will advance to the semifinals which will tip off next week Sunday at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH).
During Friday’s match night at CASH which featured three matches, Pacesetters lost their first of three games after last year’s Mecca IV runners up Victory Valley Royals defeated them 95-78.
Orlon Glasgow was in devastating form, netting a game-high 23 points for Royals, while his team-mate chipped in with a valuable 19 points in the 17-point.
Former Bounty Colts player Dave Causeway netted 17 points to lead the Pacesetters’ fight, while Nathan Saul continues to show that he is an invaluable asset to the men in yellow with 16 points.
The lone representative from the Berbice Amateur Basketball Association (BABA) in the 12-team competition, Canje Knights, narrowly lost their opening game in the Championship to Linden Amateur Basketball Association’s (LABA) Retrieve Raiders 58-56. Selwyn Henry led the Lindeners cause with 13 points, while his Captain, Marvin Hartman scored 10 in the closely contested game.
The lead was never safe by either team throughout the match and Knights would’ve been disappointed to squander a good opportunity to win on their debut. Knight’s Jamal Felix and Steve Roopnarine were tied with Raiders’ Henry for the game’s highest individual score.
In the opening match at CASH on Friday, Eagles failed to break their bad run after succumbing to their third consecutive defeat; an 83-75 loss against Jets after winning their opening game of the tournament against Kobras.

Raiders Marvin Hartman goes to the ring during his team’s 2-point win of Canje Knights on Friday night at CASH.

The competition which continues tonight with three more matches at CASH. The champions of the tournament will cash in on $600,000, 2nd place finishers $400,000 and 3rd $300,000. Meanwhile, the MVP will pocket $200,000, player with the most points, most rebounds and most improved player each receiving $100,000 each. (Calvin Chapman)