by Bernard Wagner
NEBL In The Paint
Close but no cigar…. Meaning – Fall just short of a successful outcome and get nothing for your efforts.
The Running Rebels basketball team took a tough loss to the San Pedro Tiger sharks on Saturday night on the island losing by the slim margin of one, 54-53.
It took 2 minutes 13 seconds, 3 turnovers and 5 missed field goals collectively between the two teams before the first two points of the game scored by San Pedro’s Raul Roches were recorded on the board. From there, it looked as if it would be back-and-forth play for a close game as the Rebels answered back with a three pointer from Randy Usher. Tyrone Edwards two-point jump shot and Kirk Burgess three pointer gave the Tiger sharks the early 7-3 lead. Little did they knew that it would be their last for the quarter as the Rebels managed to pull away 9-7behind James Ewingthree consecutive baskets. The Sharks then went cold for the remainder of the quarter, shooting 0 for 13, while compounding it with 3 turnovers, which allowed the visiting Rebels to go on a 14-0 run ending the first quarter with the 17-7 lead.
Second quarter play saw a Tiger sharks team focused and determined to change their first quarter misfortunes. The Rebels reluctantly cooperated by engendering a second quarter results that mirrored that of the Tiger sharks first quarter. They could only managed 6 points for the quarter as they went 2 for 10 from the field and committed 4 turnovers. This enabled the Tiger sharks to whittled the Rebels 10-point lead down to one 23-22 at the conclusionof first half play.
The third quarter saw the game go back and forth, with neither team being able to put the other away, actually neither team enjoyed a lead greater than three as the quarter ended with the core knotted at 37 apiece.
An early fourth quarter 3-pointer by the Rebels Roger Reneau, and a James Ewing 2-point field goal quickly gave the Rebels the early 42-37 lead with 8:09 in regulation. But an ensuing jump shot by the Sharks George Williams and free throws by Raul Roches quickly cut that lead to 42-41 in favor of the Rebels. Refusing to let this one slipped away the Rebels replied with a 6-0 spurt, pushing their lead to seven 48-41 with 3:20 remaining in the game. But George Williams wasn’t ready to leg go just yet as he along with Jamal Kelly and Tyrone Edwards took matters into their own hands, outscoring the Rebels 11 to 5 in the final 3:11 of regulation leaving them with a hard loss to swallow at 54-53 on the road.
The Sharks were led by George Williams 12 pts 3 rebs, Kirk Burgess 12 pts 13 rebs and Raul Roches 10 pts 10 rebs. They shot 33% from the field, and outrebounded their opponents 47-34. Meanwhile for the Rebels it was James Ewing totaling 18 pts 10 rebs, followed by Roger Reneau 16 pts 7 rebs, and Randy Usher 10 pts 3 rebs 4 asst.