SPORTS SECTION E
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2016
‘Tum Tum’ and Spartans beat Red Storm, 73-62 Battle 4 Atlantis tips off By RENALDO DORSETT Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net
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t was a homecoming for Lourawls “Tum Tum” Nairn so good that it seemed to be ripped from the pages of a Hollywood script. In his first meaningful game at home in years, Nairn tied his career high with 13 points and set a new career high with three threepoint field goals made last night in his Michigan State Spartans’ 73-62 win over the St John’s Red Storm in the Battle 4 Atlantis. His scoring night was highlighted by another first in his collegiate career, his first dunk in a game. With the Spartans trailing 3634 at the 16:48 mark in the third quarter, Nairn made a three and on the ensuing possession took barely almost the full length of the court to finish with a tomahawk dunk over the Red Storms’ Tariq Owens. “I was pushing the ball and I saw the lane wide open and I went up strong. I knew the big guy would be coming over,” he said. Even high flying Spartans forward Miles Bridges, who finished with a game high 22 points and 15 rebounds, was impressed by his point guard’s ability to finish with authority on the play. Bridges had a dunk of his own that went viral the last time he was in the Bahamas on the Nike EBYL Circuit in 2015. “That was way better than mine because Tum is shorter than me, I’m a big guy,” Bridges said. “He surprised me on that play, but he’s a very explosive guard so I expect a lot more of that out of
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LET THE GAMES BEGIN: The Battle 4 Atlantis NCAA college basketball tournament tipped off yesterday. INSET top right - Our very own Lourawls Nairn Jr shares a special moment with his teammates.
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Week 12, Pages 2 & 3
EXECUTIVES EVALUATE SITE OF BEACH SOCCER FACILITY By RENALDO DORSETT Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net FIFA, Beach Soccer Worldwide and Bahamas Football Association executives conducted a site visit this week to evaluate the Bahamas’ progress toward major beach soccer events. The construction of the $2.5 million facility, built on the site of the original complex at Malcolm Park West, will be capable of hosting over 3,000 patrons and will be equipped with a number of modern amenities. According to BFA President Anton Sealey, construction on the stadium is on schedule headed into the CONCACAF Beach Soccer Championships in February and the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in late April. “This was the second in a series of collaborative meetings with FIFA and the Beach Soccer Worldwide team. We discussed the state of the readiness for the event we will be hosting. We kicked off the first meeting earlier this year and they have returned to get an update of where we are and how they can assist us in where we are in our level of preparation,” Sealey said. “We’re comfortable with where we are. I would have liked to have been further along because the CONCACAF qualifiers is upon us and I don’t really like to go down to the wire, but they are comfortable as are we with where we are right now, but of course you can always be further along. “We would like to move a lot quicker. Of course we are entering the holiday season and we know what that means in terms of productivity in this country. So on that score I’m a little
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Coleby comes off bench for his best game as a Jayhawk By RENALDO DORSETT Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net BAHAMIAN Dwight Coleby came off the bench to deliver his best game as a member of the Kansas Jayhawks Tuesday night, and he did it at the most opportune time. With his father Dwight Sr in the stands, the younger Coleby finished with two points, four rebounds and a game high four blocked shots in the No.5 Jayhawks’ 65-54 win over the Georgia Bulldogs to win the CBE Hall of Fame Classic. “I didn’t really know what to expect (with) him coming here to watch me play and I wasn’t play-
ing that much. I know he was happy,” Coleby said to KUsports. com. “I finally had a game where I played that much, It was great. It’s a great feeling. I haven’t been playing since last year and it was exciting to see the fans want to see me do good.” With starting Kansas bigs struggling on the defensive end or in foul trouble, Jayhawks head coach Bill Self subbed in the Coleby, who he said had an immediate impact on the game. “You think about it, he got four blocks, but he gets two points and four rebounds and every time he checked out of the game, the fans all cheered for him,” Self said. “What other bigs did they cheer for when they checked out of the
DWIGHT COLEBY
game? And it’s all because he tried. He played with energy and that kind of stuff. I don’t think it’s that hard to please our fans if you give great effort and play intelligently and he did what he could tonight.” After not playing at all in the Jayhawks first two games of the season against Indiana and Duke, Coleby played a combined total of five minutes in the next two games against Siena and UAB. When he returned to the court healthy this season, and eligible to play following his transfer from Old Miss, Coleby showed flashes this week of what is expected to be a force in the front court for a Jayhawks team expected to be contenders for the Big 12 and Na-
tional title. Coleby was already set to spend the 2015-16 season on the sidelines as a transfer but he suffered a torn ACL in his left knee during a light team workouts last October and had to undergo a gruelling rehab process. The 6’9” 240-pound junior forward will have two years of eligibility remaining. Last June, Coleby announced his decision to leave the Ole Miss Rebels and join the Jayhawks programme. The former Ole Miss Rebel said it was difficult to sit out, but he was committed to improvement on his game and playing for iconic
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