Home|Sports|Giants beat Rockets in division one and two for NPBA titlesSports
Simba FrenchSend an emailApril 5, 2023 211 2 minute readFacebookTwitterLinkedInShare via Email
The Commonwealth Bank Giants got their revenge on the Discount Distributors Rockets, sweeping them 3-0 to win the 2022-2023 New Providence Basketball Association (NPBA) Division I title on Friday night at the A.F. Adderley Gymnasium.
The final score in the third game of the best-of-five series was 92-78 in favor of the Giants as they knocked off the defending champions who swept them in the finals last year – a continuation of the 2020 season.
In NPBA Division II action, the Your Essential Store (YES) Giants won their series 3-1 over the Produce Express Rockets. They took the fourth game of that series, 85-78. After the series was tied 1-1, the Giants won 93-79 on Friday night to go up 2-1. They came back the following night and finished off the Rockets.
In division one action on Friday night, the Giants had three players scoring 20-plus points. Dylan Musgrove had the hot hand with a game-high 26 points. Eugene Bain and Lerecus Armbrister finished with 22 and 21 points, respectively. Leading the way for the Rockets was Able Joseph with 21 points.
It was a wire-to-wire dominance by the Giants. They started the game on a 5-0 run. After two free shots from Joseph, the Giants scored eight in a row to go up 13-2 with 7:22 left in the first quarter.
By time the first quarter ended, the Giants were up 33-18 and looked well on their way to their goal of a sweep. At the half, the Giants went up 48-34 as the Rockets struggled from the field. They shot just 29.9 percent from the field for the entire game.
The Rockets chipped into the Giants’ double-digit lead, managing to get it down to nine points with three minutes left in the third quarter. Christorr Stuart split a pair of free throws and the Giants led 59-50 at that point.
Joseph hit a shot to cut the Giants’ lead down to six points with 8:35 left in the fourth quarter, 66-60. However, the Giants took it back to 11 points as Bain made a layup and Musgrove hit a three-point shot. They led 71-60 at that point. The Rockets got no closer the rest of the way.
The Giants made 14 three-point shots and shot the ball at a 41.8 percent clip from the field for the entire game.
In an evenly shooting game in division two action, the YES Giants dominated the fourth quarter to record the victory over the Produce Express Rockets.
The Rockets’ Anthon Williams tied the game at 78 at the 1:33 mark in the fourth quarter, but that was the last point for the Rockers as the Giants took over. They finished the game on a 7-0 scoring run to finish off the series.
Leading the way for the Giants with a double-double was Brandon Strachan. He finished with game highs of 23 points and 13 rebounds. He also had five steals in the win. Anderias Black and Simar Rolle finished with 18 points apiece in the win.
Leading the way for the Produce Express Rockets was reserve Maleak Johnson with 19 points.