Maloney Pacers and New Chapter Global Sport Academy both recorded victories in Game one of their respective premiership division semifinals in the Destiny Invitational Arima League (DIAL) at the Princess Royal Basketball Court, Arima on Sunday.
The premiership semis are being played in a best of three format, and both the Pacers and New Chapter took the ascendancy in their respective series with comfortable wins over Black Mamba and Caracas City.
After running out to a 43-23 lead at halftime against Black Mamba, Pacers shook off a low-scoring third quarter where they put up just 11 points, to get an 81-62 win to take the 1-0 series lead.
Again, the Pacers were led by the instrumental efforts from their star guard Ahkeel "Smally" Boyd, who put up a game-high 35 points, to go along with seven rebounds and an impressive six steals. Boyd, a member of the Trinidad and Tobago 3x3 basketball team which grabbed a bronze medal at last year's Pan American Games, showed the Black Mamba team exactly why he is the premiership leader in points, assists and steals as he left his handprints all over the ball game.
In the premiership's other Game one matchup, New Chapter also got a 19-point win as they defeated Caracas City by a 91-72 margin to take a 1-0 series lead. New Chapter held a slim 43-39 lead at the halfway stage, and they headed into the fourth quarter with a 64-54 advantage.
New Chapter pulled away from their opposition in the fourth quarter and Miguel Williams' solid allround game (18 points, 19 boards and four blocks) helped them to land the first blow in the semifinal matchup.
Carlos Mayora had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds to lead Caracas.
Meanwhile, on Saturday, the semifinal places in the championship division were decided and the trio of Maloney Pacers "B", New Chapter "B" and the University of the West Indies (UWI) will be joining the unbeaten Spartans TT in the semis.
On March 15, New Chapter "B" will try to upset the high-scoring Amaree Toney and the Spartans when they meet in the first game of a double-header from 7.30 pm. At 9.30 pm, Maloney Pacers "B" will tip-off against UWI in the second semifinal.
On the final night of preliminary action, UWI squeezed into the top four when Christian Borneo (17 points, 31 boards and seven blocks) beat the shot-clock at the end of the fourth quarter to give his team the 15-point cushion they needed to guarantee qualification.
Unlike the premiership semis, the championship semis will be a one-off affair and UWI will be hoping Borneo can repeat his heroics to take them into the final.
Game two of the premiership semis will be played on March 16, with the championship final set to be contested on March 17.
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