There was a joyous mood on the Mico University College campus last Saturday as the home supporters joined members of their male basketball team on court in celebration after the team defeated the University of West Indies 49-43 in the Intercol Division 1 competition for a 2-1 series win. The victory secured the institution’s first title after losing out a year ago at the same stage to Excelsior Community College.

After a narrow two-point win away to their opponent two days earlier to tie up the series at 1-1 and force a game three on their home court, Mico took to the court in confidence and were determined to avenge their earlier home loss, when they went down by nine points in the first game in the series.

Buoyed by their large cheering home fans, the Oneil Brown-coached team was in a no-nonsense mood as they had a positive start to take a 13-10 lead after the first quarter before the visitors fought back to level the score at 20-20 going into the half time break.

It was all Mico in the third quarter, however, as with their players turning in good, all-round performances, they took control of the game and outscored their opponent 21-10 to take a massive 41-30 lead going into the final quarter. Any idea that the Mico team would enjoy a blowout win over their opponents was short-lived, though, as the UWI team silenced the home fans with a big 13-2 run inside the first five minute of the quarter to level the score at 43-43. With the Pete Matthews-coached UWI team now in the ascendancy, it forced coach Brown to call a time out and place his starting five players on the court.

This paid dividends for the home team, as they held their nerves for the remainder of the game to score six unanswered points for a historic win in the end. Jerome Thomas and Kemar Hurd were the top marksmen for the new champions with 11 points each, while Kijuan Thomas was the top scorer for the losers with a game-high 14 points.