Recap: Lions Edge Panthers in Thrilling Overtime Victory at the Spar Sports Gear and Peak Sports Caribbean Battle of the Cats Basketball Tournament

It was a tough night for the Tigers and Panthers but they went down swinging for consecutive games in the Spar Sports Gear and Peak Sports Caribbean Battle of the Cats basketball tournament at the Barbados Community College on Tuesday night.

It was another exciting nightcap for the tournament as the Lions once again showed they were a force to be reckoned with in the jungle, although they again needed extra time to pull out the win. This toss the Lions were the ones who came from behind to steal the 95-93 victory over the Panthers. At the end of regular time, the score was locked at 89 but both teams had many opportunities to take the win.

Rasheed Maynard, coming off a 52-point game, finished with 28 points and nine rebounds, and his ‘and-1’ play with the score at 92-93, with 17 seconds left in overtime was a critical play for the Lions. It put his team up one, 94-93 and he purposely missed the free throw and got his rebound but was fouled quickly to stop the clock. Maynard scored the first shot (95-93) and missed the second, and yet again the Lions courtesy of poor defence and forward Dwayne Kellman, grabbed the offensive rebound and ran out the clock.

The game had been competitive throughout, with 14 lead changes. It cemented the expectations of many fans, as the excitement continues to build about which of the six teams will claim the four coveted playoff spots.

Lion Anand Joseph-Thorne was good for 20 points, five rebounds and five assists and Johnathan Fitt and Brandon Ruck had 13 points with Fitt pulling down 16 rebounds. For the Panthers, Theo Greenidge top scored with 26 points, Jamon Philip had 17, and Kaliel Austin and Walkes finished with 14.

The Cougars, in green, defeated the Tigers 83-71 in the first game of the evening and displayed good poise under pressure. When the Tigers made runs and threatened to take the lead, teamwork was the solution for the winners. Kiserian Adams kept the ship upright with a composed 14 points when the opposition fought back but it was the dominating of the paint by Adriel Brathwaite that won the matchup. Young Brathwaite made light work of the defence to finish with a double-double of 21 points and 20 rebounds.

The halftime score was 43-33 to the Cougars, with the Tigers making inroads in the deficit by the end of the third, 62-57. However, a late jumper by Zachary Cave was the nail needed to bury the Tigers. Cave finished with 13 points, while Zane Gaskin and Romaine Lovell contributed 10 points each, keeping the points flowing in the second and third.