Basketball: Curtain-raiser – Men’s division two |31 March 2023

No way for Dominique Barijaona (10) of MBU Boys past St Louis Saints’ Wayne Dogley

St Louis Saints win first group match to move on top

•          PTL Thunder walk over Mont Fleuri Ballerz

St Louis Saints and PTL Thunder have started their curtain-raiser tournament campaign on a good note, registering victories in their first group matches on Tuesday and yesterday at the Victoria Gymnasium, pushing them on top of their respective pool.

On Tuesday, St Louis Saints beat MBU Boys 81-65 in their group A match, while yesterday in their group B match, newly formed PTL Thunder walked over Mont Fleuri Ballerz to climb on top.

In group A which also features the Bel Air Youth Academy (Baba) and Praslin Boys, St Louis Saints started their match on a high note, winning  the first quarter 27-12, before allowing MBU Boys to come back in the second quarter, to win it 19-7, concluding the first half of the match 34-31 in favour of Saints.

In the third quarter, MBU Boys who had picked up momentum scored 20 more points, compared to 15 for Saints, outscoring the former for a 51-49 lead at the end of the third period of the match.

Seeing the match slipping away from their grasps, coach Lennon Shurman changed his strategy in the fourth and last quarter, a move which paid off for Saints as they scored 32 points, while MBU Boys only managed to add in 14 more, concluding the match on an 81-65 win for St Louis Saints, placing them on top of group A.

In what was supposed to be their inaugural match yesterday, newly formed PTL Thunder did not have to break a sweat to climb on top of group B, after their opponents, Mont Fleuri Ballerz, failed to turn up.

The other teams in the group are PLS Suns, PLS Legends and Anse Royale.

Roland Duval

c