Caledonia Clippers emerged men’s champions of the National Basketball Federation of T&T’s (NBFTT) National Invitational Championships (NIC) after defeating Stories of Success (SOS) Basketball Academy 108-95 in the decider at the Maloney Indoor Sports Arena on Sunday.
Kirk Baptiste led the way for Clippers with a game-high 25 points as Clippers swept the three-game series 2-0.
SOS entered game two already at a disadvantage following a narrow 77-76 loss to Clippers in game one on Thursday.
In a frantic effort to keep their championship hopes alive, the SOS unit was combative from the jump, applying defensive pressure from coast-to-coast. During the first quarter, it was a showdown between Clippers’ Kurt “Koto” Christian and SOS’ Ahkeel “Smally” as the two guards were going at each other on each possession.
The young SOS group stayed within striking range in the first half of play, limiting the on-court production of Clippers’ Adrian Joseph through their defensive strategy and ending the first two quarters 24-29 and 52-55 respectively.
However, Ako Pascal, who recorded a season-high 35 points in Caledonia’s victory over SOS during the regular season, began to heat up, scoring 11 of his 22 points in the second period.
In the second half, the physicality of the contest grew much to the disadvantage of the SOS outfit. Despite SOS’ open displeasure with the officials, the men in orange ferociously battled throughout the entire contest.
In spite of SOS’ fight, it was not enough as Joseph, Pascal, Christian and defensive specialist Baptiste combined for 44 points in the Clippers’ 53-point charge towards the end of regulation as they swept their opponents.
Seven teams participated in this year’s competition. The other teams were Police, Brian Chase Basketball Academy, Maloney Pacers, Prisons and Defence Force.
Following the preliminary round, SOS finished at the top of the table and the Clippers, Defence Force and Police were ranked second, third and fourth respectively.
Clippers swept Defence Force 2-0 in the Big Four semi-finals, securing their place in the series final. SOS’ journey was a bit longer as they defeated Police 2-1.
In the women’s division, Police, Defence Force, Brian Chase and Enterprise-Maloney Combined fielded teams to form a pool of four in the competition, which jumped off in December with some of the top available teams in T&T in the men’s and women’s divisions.
Police were crowned the women’s champions with Defence Force placing second and BCBA securing third place.
Score:
CLIPPERS 108 (Kirk Baptiste 25, Ako Pascal 22, Kurt Christian 22, Adrian Joseph 16) v SOS 95 (Ahkeel Boyd 24, Kern George 14, Keron Stephens 12, Jelani Valley 11).
Quarter scores: 1st. 29-24, 2nd. 55-52, 3rd. 86-70 (All in favour of Clippers).
Clippers won series 2-0
Special Awards:
• MVP: Adrian Joseph (Clippers)
• Best Defensive Player: Kirk Baptiste (Clippers)
• Most Promising Player: Ahkeel Boyd (SOS)
• Top Performing Coach: Colin Alleyne (Clippers)
• Most Outstanding Manager: Milio Campbell (Police)
• Most Outstanding Trainer/Physio: Nicole Abraham (Police)