Game two of the New Providence Basketball Association finals may be the best game every played on the island.
Defending champions the MailBoat Cybots managed to defeat the Commonwealth Bank Giants 103-97. The Cybots came into the game with a 1-0 lead, and looked to take full control of the series on Wednesday night at the A.F. Adderley Gymnasium.
Eugene Bain was unstoppable in this game, he finished the game with 47 points and 20 rebounds, to go along with two assists and two steals. David Taylor added 21 points and five rebounds.
In the first quarter the Giants came out and looked to send the message that they would not go down without a fight. They found consistent offense in the first quarter by working the ball in the paint. They finished the quarters with a double-digit lead.
The Cybots were slow out of the gate; they committed multiple turnovers and struggled to find any kind of offensive rhythm. They missed jumpers that they usually made and seemed sluggish on the defensive end.
Gamaliel Rose was the Giants' primary catalyst in the game, he finished the game with 33 points and 18 rebounds, to go along with four blocks. He defended the paint well all game and made things tough for the Cybots down low.
In the second quarter, the Cybots began to turn up their intensity on the defensive end with a full court press.
The pressure defense forced the Giants' ball handlers to commit turnovers and allowed them to get out on the fast break. The Cybots finished the game with 16 steals and willed themselves back in the game. And allowed them to take a 43-40 lead into halftime.
Jackson Jacob came alive for the Giants in the third quarter. On several plays he drove the basketball into the teeth of the defense and finished strong at the rim. He finished the game with 17 points, eight rebounds and five assists, and gave the Giants a spark that they desperately needed.
Without their usual starting point guard Michael Bain the Giants' offense bogged down at times. They made careless turnovers and struggled to bring the ball across the half court line when the Cybots applied the press.
Jeffrey Henfield has served as the point guard, but once he is taken out of the play things seem to break down.
The Giants managed to take the lead in the third, but in the fourth quarter the Cybots would turn up the pressure even more. Bain began to take over the game with his non-stop effort on both sides of the floor; he and Rose would trade baskets down the stretch but it would be the Cybots that came out victorious. They won the battle off the bench points 19-6. The Giants' bench was almost non-existent in the game, and they will need more production from them to avoid going down three games to the Cybots.
Game three of the series will be played tonight at the A.F. Adderley Gymnasium, beginning at 8 o'clock.

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian