UWI, Mico clash in Intercol basketball decider
Published:Saturday | December 14, 2019 | 12:16 AM
The Mico University College and The University of the West Indies (UWI) are set for an epic battle today at Mico starting at 3:00pm, in the final game in the best-of- three finals in the Intercol male Division 1 Basketball Competition.
After going down 54-62 on their home court on Tuesday in their first encounter, Mico, playing away on Thursday, defeated their opponents 63-61 to even the series and set the stage for today’s finale, which will see a new champion crowned after defending champions Excelsior Community College lost in the semi-finals to UWI.
Following their win in the opening game of the series, the Pete Matthews-coached UWI team weas expected to close out the finals in Game Two but ran into a determined Mico unit, with the Oneil Brown-coached team forcing a Game Three and bringing the series back to its home court.
Early initiative
Unlike their previous encounter when they had to play catch-up, this time around, it was the Mico team that seized the early initiative after taking a 20-14 first-quarter lead before UWI rallied to reduce the deficit by three, going to the half-time break trailing 31-28.
With their large home support cheering them on, UWI came out after the half-time break with the likes of Romel Carbon and Emmanuel Richards shoooting the home team in front as they outscored their opponents 20-10 to take a 48-41 lead going into the final quarter.
However, Mico showed their resilience in the final quarter, and with their season on the line, they cut into the UWI lead with Keneil Allen, Leslie Cassell, Kemar Hurd, and Jerome Thomas keeping their team close, combining well to pull Mico back 59-57 with less than two minutes to go.
With one minute, 12 seconds remaining, Mico went up by one 61-60. UWI then tied up the score at 61-61 before Cassel sank two free throws to give Mico a close two-point win and force a third and deciding game.
Cassel, Thomas, and Hurd all scored 12 points for Mico, while Carbon, with 16 points, was UWI’s top scorer.
-R.G.