MONDAY, JANUARY 12, 2015
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Banks DIH Classic Basketball Tournament...
NA Warriors top Smithfield Gayle, Narine refuse WICB contracts Rockers to win title
Carlos Crandon rises for a dagger from downtown
N
ew Amsterdam Warriors successfully defended their Banks DIH Classic Basketball title with a convincing 41-32 win over arch rivals Smithfield Rockers in the final of the competition at the Vrymens Erven Court in New Amsterdam on Sunday. Led by Most Valuable Player (MVP) Randy Caesar with 10 points, the Warriors avenged their defeat in the Legend Classic Tournament.
Leroy Edwards dropped a team-high 12 points for the Warriors and had the Rockers on their heels during the course of the game while Carlos Crandon contributed eight points. Edwards had initially taken the Warriors ahead from the start of the game after a Crandon steal followed by an outlet pass to Edwards, who made no mistake in converting the fast break points. Trailing 6-4 in the
opening quarter, Rockers’ Michael Bowen swished a three-point bomb to give Rockers their first lead of the game as the first quarter ended 12-9. However, by halftime the Warriors increased their lead to 22-15 as the Warriors held Bowen to two points in the last 20 minutes of the game as he finished with nine after scoring his first seven in the first quarter. At the presentation ceremony, Banks DIH Limited
Berbice Branch Sales Manager Joshua Torrezao congratulated all of the players for the high level of competition displayed throughout the tournament. “I am very impressed with what I have seen. A few years ago when I played the game, the standard was very high, but what I have seen here today is even of a higher standard,” he noted. S e c o n d - p l a c e d Smythfield Rockers were praised for reaching the final of the competition. Torrezao noted that the company had good things in store for basketball in Berbice. This is the second year that Banks DIH has sponsored the tournament. Meanwhile organiser Vibert Garrett, in thanking the sponsor, said that although the tournament has come to an end, players will soon have the chance to be involved in another tournament. The second edition of the Anamayah Memorial Basketball Tournament is slated to commence before the end of the month. Smithfield Rockers are the defending champions of that tournament. (Andrew Carmichael)
Chris Gayle
Sunil Narine
hris Gayle and Sunil Narine have refused the annual retainer contracts offered to them by the WICB, while it would appear Kieron Pollard wasn’t offered one by the board. The contracts are for the period between October 1 2014 and September 30 2015. Dwayne Bravo, who along with Pollard was left out of West Indies’ squad for the 2015 World Cup, is among the 12 contracted players. The contracts were approved at a WICB board meeting in Antigua on Saturday. “Selection for central retainer contracts was done on the basis of player performance in the various
formats, with Test cricket being the premier format followed by one-day internationals and twenty20 internationals,” the WICB said in a release. Gayle had accepted a WICB contract in 2014 for the first time in three years, though Pollard had not been given one last year either. In 2010, Gayle, Bravo and Pollard had refused retainer contracts. List of contracted players: Sulieman Benn, Kraigg Brathwaite, Darren Bravo, Dwayne Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Jason Holder, Denesh Ramdin, Kemar Roach, Andre Russell, Darren Sammy, Marlon Samuels, Jerome Taylor
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NBA Roundup…
Gasol career night lifts Bulls over Bucks
P
au Gasol had a career-high 46 points to go along with 18 rebounds and the Chicago Bulls bounced back from two ugly losses with a 95-87 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday night. Gasol was 17 for 30 from the field and 12 for 13 at the line. Kirk Hinrich added 16 points for Chicago, and Jimmy Butler had nine points, 10 assists and eight rebounds in the opener of a three-game homestand. The Bulls were coming off a pair of bad losses to Utah and Washington, when they shot a combined 36 percent from the field. They weren’t much better against Milwaukee, finishing at 40 percent (35 for 88), but Gasol’s big performance was enough to hold off the Bucks. Gasol helped the Bulls close it out in the final period.
He had a driving layup that made it 87-75 with 4:01 remaining. He finished with four straight free throws, surpassing his previous career best of 44 points for Memphis against Seattle on March 28, 2006. The Bulls played without starters Derrick Rose and Mike Dunleavy. Rose, who missed much of the last 2 1/2 seasons due to a series of injuries, was sidelined by left knee soreness, and Dunleavy missed his fifth straight game with a right ankle injury. Brandon Knight scored 20 points for Milwaukee, which had won its last five road games. Jared Dudley had 15 points, and fellow reserve O.J. Mayo finished with 12.
Hornets 110, Knicks 82
Kemba Walker scored 28 points and streaky Charlotte extended New York’s losing streak to 15 games.
Charlotte won its fifth in a row and did it so easily that Walker played only three quarters. Walker has played a big role in the five-game winning streak. He had 30 points in a victory over Orlando, 33
against Toronto on Thursday night. Bismack Biyombo added 14 points, tying a career high, and 12 rebounds for the Hornets, the latest team to enjoy a laugher at the expense of the NBA’s worst
games. Quincy Acy led them with 18 points. New York reaches the midway point of its schedule Thursday when it plays Milwaukee in London. The Knicks are on their longest single-season skid ever and free-falling toward their worst finish, which is 23-59 in the 82-game schedule.
Clippers 120, Mavericks 100
Pau Gasol
against Boston, 31 against New Orleans — when he made the go-ahead basket with 1.4 seconds left — and 29
team — and maybe the worst Knicks team ever. The Knicks fell to 5-35 with their 25th loss in 26
Blake Griffin scored 22 points, Chris Paul had 17 points and 13 assists and Los Angeles beat Dallas for its sixth win in eight games and second in a row. Jamal Crawford added 19 points, Matt Barnes had 18 points, J.J. Redick 16, and DeAndre Jordan had 13 points and 15 rebounds in the Clippers’ eighth win in their last 11 games against the Mavericks. Dirk Nowitzki scored 25
points and Monta Ellis had 15 of his 23 in the first half for Dallas, which had its threegame road winning streak snapped. Rajon Rondo was held to two points and eight assists in 27 minutes after going scoreless in the first half. Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle was ejected midway through the third after picking up his second technical for arguing a foul on Tyson Chandler.
Spurs 108, Timberwolves 93
Austin Daye scored a season-high 22 points and had 10 rebounds to help San Antonio hand Minnesota its 15th straight loss. Patty Mills scored 19 points and Tim Duncan added 13 points and six rebounds in 20 minutes for the Spurs (23-15), who were missing Manu Ginobili and Marco Belinelli with injuries. (The Blade)