The defending champions in the New Providence Basketball Association (NPBA), the Commonwealth Bank Giants, have booked their spot into the final once again, and are ready to get the ball bouncing against the MailBoat Cybots.
The best-of-seven championship series will be a re-match from a year ago, and the Giants are hoping to come out on top once again. The team closed their best-of-five series against the Police Crimestoppers on Saturday night, winning comfortably 82-73. The Cybots advanced after pulling off a 76-68 win over The Real Deal Shockers. The first game in the championships will tip off on Wednesday over at the A.F. Adderley Gymnasium.
Head Coach for the Giants Perry Thompson welcomes the match-up, but says this time around he and his squad know exactly how to control the Cybots. Last year, the championships went down to the wire, with the Giants taking the crown. This year, both teams were able to advance to the final after sweeping their opponents.
"I am very satisfied that we were able to advance out of the playoffs against the Police and into the championship," said Thompson. "Although we beat them in three straight games, it was still a competitive series and the games could have gone either way. The Police have a good team and they match up well, so playing them before we moved into the championship round was good for us because it helped us to prepare.
"We know the Cybots are going to press, so we are going to work on that when we go to practice. This series is going to be interesting because we match up with them man-to-man and pound-for-pound. The guys have already stepped up their games and you can see that they are now focussed. You can see the changes they have made from the series with the Stingers, then the Police, so we are poised and ready to maintain our crown. We are going to defend differently, and make some other changes. I like the aggressive play and the sense of urgency now. If we are able to maintain that level of intensity, be focussed and limit our turnovers I think we will prevail."
The Giants were led by Michael 'Furley' Bain, in Saturday's game. Bain scored 23 points, pulled down five rebounds, had eight assists and one block. Jeffery Henfield netted 20 points, had three rebounds and one assist, while Mark Hanna chipped in with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
Leading the way for the Crimestoppers was Vernon Stubbs with 21 points, seven rebounds and four steals. Teammate Jeremy Hutchinson closed with 15 points, 13 rebounds, three assists and one steal.
Three of the Cybots' players ended the game in double digits in their clinching game against the Shockers, Brian Bain, Kyle Clarke and David Taylor. Bain led the team with 13 points, four rebounds, two assists and one steal while Clarke and Taylor scored 10 points each. In a losing effort, Devon Brennen scored 17 pints, Amon Baker had 16 points and Floyd Armbrister Jr. netted 12 points. Wilfred Culmer assisted with 10 points.
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