SPORTS SECTION E
FRIDAY, APRIL 27, 2018
Travis Munnings declares for NBA Draft By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net TRAVIS Munnings has decided to test the professional ranks sooner than expected and become one of hundreds of early entrants to declare for the NBA Draft. The University of Louisiana Monroe Warhawks junior forward made the announcement via social media in an Instagram post from his account. “You are not like everyone else. The Most High, God has not only handpicked you, he not only chose you, but he set you apart, he made you uncommon,” he said. “I would like to thank the Lord for everything he has done. A huge thanks to my coaches, teammates, fans and everyone that supported me on this journey. With that being
said, I am declaring for The NBA Draft the 2018 NBA Draft takes place June 21 at and do not wish to hire the Barclays Center in an agent at this time.” Brooklyn, New York. Munnings just beat Munnings was named out the deadline for a Louisiana Sports underclassmen to Writers Association declare for the NBA (LSWA) Men’s ColDraft, but made the lege Basketball Team announcement public Third-team selection to on Wednesday. add to his postseason Over 130 players accolades. have declared for the The junior forward MUNNINGS draft, including those averaged 15.9 points, who have opted not to 7.3 rebounds and 2.4 sign with agents. assists per game. He was previThe next in the draft process will ously honoured as Second-team be the testing and evaluation done All-Sun Belt Conference selection at the May 16 NBA combine. and won Sun Belt Player of the Following the combine, and Week. based on the feedback they En route to winning Conferreceive, underclassmen can decide ence Player of the Week honours, to remain in the draft and hire an Munnings averaged 21 points and agent or return to school. 5.5 rebounds while helping ULM
to a homecourt sweep over UT Arlington (84-71) and Texas State (79-71). He also made 9-of-21 three pointers (41 per cent) during that two-game stretch. ULM basketball coach Keith Richard is already looking ahead to the continued growth of the Grand Bahama native as he heads into his senior season. “I had him in and we talked about having a team around him as a senior that can make a run at this championship,” Richard said about the team’s series of exit interviews. Munnings led the team in both scoring and rebounding and is a member of the 1,000-point club. As a freshman, the 6’6” forward averaged 7.2 points and 5.4 rebounds and increased those numbers to 13.2 points and 8.1 rebounds per game as a sophomore.
Bucks force Game 7 By GENARO C ARMAS AP Sports Writer
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo had 31 points and 14 rebounds and the Milwaukee Bucks pulled away late to beat the Boston Celtics 97-86 last night to force a Game 7 in the first-round series. Khris Middleton and Malcolm Brogdon each added 16 points, with Brogdon hitting a momentum-swinging 3 from the left corner to give the Bucks a two-possession lead with 5:22 left. The Bucks held the Celtics at bay from there to force the winner-take-all game Saturday night in Boston. The up-and-coming Bucks haven’t played a seventh game in the playoffs since losing to the Atlanta Hawks in the first round in 2010. Both teams went on extended runs to take big leads. The Bucks made the last big push to close out the Celtics. Boston had to settle for perimeter looks down the stretch. They couldn’t hit enough 3s, finishing 10 of 36 (28 per cent) on the night, and the Bucks limited Boston on the glass. On offence, Antetokounmpo led the Bucks’ charge right at the heart of the Celtics’ defence. After Eric Bledsoe picked off Jayson Tatum’s inbounds pass, Antetokounmpo converted an offensive rebound with a putback off the glass for an 89-81 lead with 3:08 left. It was part of an 11-3 run late to help the Bucks pull away for 10-point advantage. With his team facing
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‘BOUNCE BACK KING’ LAUNCHES CLOTHING LINE By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net NO longer under contract with Muzino, triple jumper Leevan ‘Superman’ Sands has decided to start his own apparel line. It’s called: “Sands Pro Athletics Clothing Brand” and the slogan on the back is labelled: “Zero Excuses. Only Results.” If anybody knows Sands, he is one who prides himself on striving under all circumstances that he has been faced with in his life. So this latest venture is something that he feels defies his personality and it’s something that he wants to share with as many people as he can who have followed his career. “It’s been in the making for over a year and-a-half now,” Sands said. “Since I put it out there, a lot of people have been buying them, so I want the Bahamian public to start buying them too.” Designed in Auburn, Alabama, where he resides with his wife and children, the products are manufactured in Ohio. In the middle of the design is Sands’ silhouette image from his bronze medal performance in the men’s triple jump at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China. It also includes wings in the Bahamian flag colours, which depicts Sands flying into the pit. And it has the Bahamas embroidered on
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3RD ANNUAL TOP ELITE SHOWCASE ENDS TODAY By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net
MILWAUKEE Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo dunks last night in the first half of Game 6 of a first-round playoff series against the Boston Celtics. Boston lost 97-86. AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Gardiner: Best yet to come from Mingoes’ Mullings By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net DESPITE all the feats Ken Mullings has achieved thus far this
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season, University of the Bahamas track and field coach Rupert Gardiner said the best is yet to come from the Mingoes decathlete. Mullings most recently won the gold medal in the college men’s decathlon in the Penn Relays yesterday at Franklin Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Gardiner called him a “hard worker” and a “natural talent”, a combination he said should lead to Mullings becoming the national outdoor record holder in the very near future. “Ken had a remarkable performance at the Penn Relays, and we can tell with how he is performing that he’s close to the record. He reached a personal record in both the pole vault and in the 400m which we are extremely proud of. “All of his events he did great in but to perform so well in those two events, we were excited to
see that from him. It was raining, this weather wasn’t too condusive to him performing well in some events, particularly in the throws. “Based on his numbers they are some of his weaker events but we know he can improve on those and reach his potential in those events,” Gardiner said. “Ken is well on his way to that outdoor record so in one of these competitions in the near future, either at Nationals or at CAC in Colombia or NACAC Under-20 in Canada, we are looking forward to breaking that record.” Mullings posted a total score of 6,930 points, 491 points shy of the national outdoor record. Christopher Gabor of Mount St Mary’s finished 427 points behind Mullings with 6,503 points and Darryl Workcuff, also of Mount St Mary’s, was third with a total of 6,454 points.
Mullings took first place in two of the 10 events. He had the top clearance in the high jump at 1.99m and was first in the 110mH in 15.04 seconds. Mullings was also second in the 100m (11.13), long jump (7.03m), 400m (50.84) and javelin (49.55m). He finished third in the shot put (12.15m), discus (34.16m) and 1,500m (5:00.84). He rounded out his numbers in the competition with a clearance of 3.80m. Mullings continues a stellar 2018 season that also included breaking the Bahamas men’s heptathlon national indoor record in February in the 2018 Fred Wilt Invitational at the Lambert Fieldhouse at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. The school hosted “Ken Mullings Day” in his honour to commemorate the feat.
SOME of the top high school basketball players have a chance to showcase their skills at the AF Adderley Gymnasium as the third annual Top Elite Showcase takes place. At least 12 coaches from high schools and colleges in the United States are in town for the event that got started on Wednesday and will wrap up today. And starting at 10am on Saturday, there will be a primary school exhibition. The top 20 players from the camp will go on to represent the Bahamas in the AAU Tournament in the US in the summer. Rodney Curry, the coordinator of the showcase, said this is an opportunity to provide an avenue for those players who are interested in heading off to school to be seen by the college coaches who are in town to provide athletic scholarships to the deserving players to further their education. “These players have dreams of playing overseas and so we decided to provide an avenue for them to be seen,” said Curry, who is assisted by a committee that includes Peter ‘Macaroni’ Gilcud, Laron ‘Preacher’ Colebrooke and Dorinda Darling. “So far, we’ve had about 25 players who have been out. “I was looking for more girls than boys because we
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