THIS year’s league title will be decided on Saturday when defending champions and league leaders Baya will meet second-placed PLS Hawks in their last match of the season.
Both title contenders registered victories in their weekend matches, bringing more excitement to the race for the throne.
On Saturday, PLS Hawks came a step closer in their quest to overthrow Baya as champions with a precious victory over a stubborn MBU Rockers side.
All started well for Hawks, who dominated the first quarter with veteran guard Heribert Derjaques firing twice from the three-point range, giving his team a 17-11 lead with two minutes of play remaining.
Realising the danger, coach Paul Denis called a time-out to try to remedy the situation, only to see Hawks add seven more points compared to only two for Rockers to end the first period on 24-13 score.
Ten consecutive points – including two treys – from Cyril Agrippine and two more from Nigel Henriette in the second quarter brought Rockers into the lead for the first time in the match, which forced coach Tony Juliette to call for his first time-out.
But his advice seemed unheeded as his players continued to commit stupid mistakes, which allowed Rockers to increase their lead for a 40-37 score at half-time.
Two treys from Robert Francis, who took over the shooting role from Agrippine, steered Rockers further into the lead only to see a Hawks comeback with baskets from Jim Domingue and Neddy ‘Oye’ Fanchette. With the twin towers of the Hawks – Domingue and Fanchette – combining for 16 points, a trey from Derjacques and two points from captain Bernard Bristol restored their lead with the score at 59-58 at the end of the third period.
In the final quarter, which was fiercely contested, Rockers forced their opponents into committing a lot of fouls but their inaccuracy on the free-throw line let them down.
At the other end, Hawks used all their scoring opportunities to increase the gap.
Keeping his calm throughout, experienced Domingue scored nine points while Barry Barron chipped in another four for the Hawks, taking them to a well deserved 76-69 victory.
Domingue was Hawks’ top scorer with 19 points while Cyril Agrippine led the scoring for MBU with 25 points.
In the other matches played during the weekend, Baya beat Mont Fleuri Dawgz 76-58, while Beau Vallon Heat defeated Angels 65-59.
On Saturday on Praslin, Cascade Bullets edged out Praslin Warriors 85-82.
In two men’s second division encounters, AAP Brothers beat Drifters 58-53 while Pointe Larue Falcons were winners against Juniors, 54-37.
As for next weekend’s title match, Hawks will have to beat Baya by a minimum five-point margin if they are to win the title as the latter have a slight advantage after winning the first round encounter 84-80.
R. D.