BAYA are in the Seychelles Basketball Federation (SBF) Cup final and will be up against division one league champions PLS Hawks as they try to defend the title they won for the first time last year.
Third finishers in the league this year, Baya dispatched MBU Rockers in the semifinal played on Saturday at the Palais des Sports, and then watched as PLS Hawks upped the tempo in the fourth quarter to post an 86-83 victory over Premium Cobras to set up a crunching final tie.
Coach Michel Malbrook’s Baya dominated all four quarters – 21-18, 32-18, 16-15 and 22-15 – to boot the Rockers out of the competition.
Shooting guard Steve ‘Biko’ Denis was again instrumental for Baya with a game-high 24 points, including four treys, and he was helped in offence by playmaker Giovanni Laval with 22, including three 3-pointers.
Centre Robert Léon got 19 points coming off the substitutes’ bench and small forward Dave Roseline added 12.
Pascal Bibi (12 points) and playmaker Nigel Sinon (11) were the only two Rockers in double digits as they lost by a 25-point margin.
In the other semifinal, PLS Hawks did not have an easy match like when they steamrollered former champions Premium Cobras 82-56 in the league title decider.
Nigerian forward Alao Solomon scored eight of his team-high 20 points in the fourth quarter which PLS Hawks won 22-18 on the way to an 86-83 victory that booked them a place in the Saturday October 30 final.
Centre Rodney Lozé added 15, playmaker and captain Bernard Bristol got 13, and Steve Allisop made an 11-point contribution in the win for the Hawks who are looking for another league and cup double.
Nigerian playmaker Michael Ohiero, who captained the side for the first time, once again led the Cobras with a 36-point game, including three treys.
The Cobras, who had gone into the fourth quarter with a one-point lead – 65-64 –, also got 15 points from Amadou Sylla and 10 from power forward Dominic Pillay.
Baya won last year’s best-of-three final on a 2-1 score against Premium Cobras. In game three, the Cobras let on-fire Denis unguarded around the arc and he caused them all sorts of problems with his accurate shooting for a game-leading 27 points, including three treys, as his team celebrated a 73-49 win for their first SBF Cup title.
Baya won game one 80-76, but Cobras tied the series by winning game two 72-66.
Meanwhile, the women’s final is a repeat of last year’s – Mont Fleuri v HotShots.
Mont Fleuri beat RA Sisters 61-33 and HotShots defeated Anse Etoile Stars 69-38 in the semifinals.
Gunning for a second consecutive league and cup double, HotShots swept last year’s best-of-three final series, winning game one by a 21-point margin – 72-51 – with centre Tina Agathine scoring 24 points, mostly from second-chance shots she got from under the board.
In game two, Myra Solin played like a real power forward and Jenita Toussaint rediscovered her shooting prowess from beyond 3-point range with three treys to help HotShots to a 63-49 victory to complete a first league and cup double.
G. G.