By Karim Juan, Commissioner

Sunday, May 5, 2018

 

In the other semi final game DigiCell Belize City Defenders traveled to San Pedro to take on the defending sub champions, San Pedro Tiger Sharks.  These two teams were able to split their regular season match-up, with both teams winning at home. They played two weeks ago in San Pedro and it was a hotly contested game, despite the fact that Darwin “Puppy” Leslie sat out that game to nurse an injury.  Of the two losses that San Pedro faced, one was at the hands of Defenders.

The game started out with both teams trying to establish their dominance and at the end of the first quarter, the home squad, San Pedro Tiger Sharks had a 21 – 17 lead. The visitors continued to rally, which game them a 45 – 42 edge going into the half time break. Captain Darwin “Puppy” Leslie was the scoring leader for DigiCell Belize City Defenders, tallying 21 points and 5 rebounds, as he kept his team within range to strike in the fourth quarter. Regular season MVP notched another double-double, finishing with 18 points and 12 rebounds, while Francis Arana had a huge game with 16 points and 7 dimes. In the third quarter San Pedro Tiger Sharks were able to jump out to a 11 point lead, 69 – 58, and they established a 10-point lead going into the fourth quarter. However, the visiting team had one more rally in them, cutting the deficit to 2 points in the waning seconds of the game, falling short on the buzzer, as they failed to execute and hit the shot that would have sent the game to over-time. Top scorer for San Pedro Tiger Sharks was big man, Martevuius Adams who had the game high of 22 points and 12 rebounds. Jihad Wright had a huge game, padding the stats sheet and almost recording his first triple-double in his NEBL career, tallying 21 points, 10 boards, 8 assists, 6 steals and 5 blocked shots, while Emory Bennet Jr. and Raul Roches finished with 13 and 12 points respectively, and they both had 7 rebounds each.  The game saw 13 lead changes and 6 ties, while San Pedro had the 27 – 18 advantage on points off turnovers.

 

Upcoming Schedule

Friday, May 11 – DigiCell Belize City Defenders vs. San Pedro Tiger Sharks at 9 p.m. at the Belize

Civic  Center

Friday, May 11 – Griga Dream Ballers vs. Smart Belize Hurricanes at 9:15 p.m. at the Russel

Chiste Garcia Auditorium in Dangriga Town