MALONEY Pacers’ bid to secure a pair of titles at the Destiny Invitational Arima League (DIAL) strengthened on the weekend when they copped the championship division crown and also won Game one of the premiership division final at the Princess Royal Basketball Court in Arima.
In the final of the championship division on Saturday night – a tournament catered to under-23 players – Pacers “B” got a comfortable 108-82 win over Spartans TT to seize the title.
Earlier in the tournament, Spartans opened up their round-robin campaign with a win over Pacers “B”.
However, the Maloney team had the last laugh in the grand finale as performances by Tyrese Fields and final MVP Leshaun Alfred took them to the comprehensive victory.
Alfred had a game-high of 27 points, as well as eight assists, ten rebounds, and four blocks. Fields was equally as impressive as he scored 26 points, to go with ten rebounds, four steals, and two blocks.
Kevin Garcia did it all for Spartans as he desperately tried to take his team to the title, and he scored 27 points, grabbed eight rebounds, and also had ten steals as his team tried to heap pressure on Pacers “B” with their man-to-man style of guarding.
In the third-place playoff in the championship division, New Chapter Global Sport Academy “B” just squeezed out an 84-83 win against the University of the West Indies (UWI).
UWI’s Tyler Hyndman put on a show as he scored 33 points and snatched three steals. However, New Chapter put in a great all-around team effort to land third spot.
In Game one of the premiership division finals on Sunday, Maloney Pacers showed their intent early in the best of three series as they got a massive 111-53 win to flatten New Chapter.
With the TT 3x3 basketball pair of Ahkeel “Smally” Boyd and Ahkeem “Fato” Boyd in their ranks, Pacers brought a heat their New Chapter opponents just couldn’t handle, resulting in a one-sided Game one clash.
Ahkeel, the tournament’s leading scorer, dropped a game-high 36 points, to go along with eight assists, 11 rebounds, and three steals. Ahkeel’s twin brother Ahkeem also had a solid game with 22 points and eight rebounds. Fields, one of the standout performers in the Pacers’ championship division team, recorded 21 points and eight rebounds in the Game one blowout.
From 9 pm on March 28, New Chapter will try to keep the series alive when they try to stop Pacers’ twin threat in Game two of the finals. Should New Chapter tie the series at 1-1, the team’s will play the Game 3 title-decider on March 30.
From 7.30 pm on March 28, Venezuelan teams Black Mamba and Caracas City will battle in the premiership division’s third place playoff.
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