Home|Sports|Junior tennis teams compete in GuatemalaSports

Boys remain undefeated while girls drop their first match

Simba FrenchSend an emailMarch 1, 2023 128 2 minute readFacebookTwitterLinkedInShare via Email

The Bahamas’ Junior Davis Cup team stayed unbeaten as they took down Barbados 3-0 at the Central America and Caribbean (CAC) pre-qualifying tournament in Guatemala City, Guatemala, yesterday, while the junior girls began action in the Junior Billie Jean King Cup Tournament. The girls lost a tough tie, 2-1, to St. Lucia.

Coming off a hard fought 2-1 victory over Jamaica on Monday, the unseeded Bahamian team swept the seventh-seeded Barbados team in Junior Davis Cup action, looking to make a deep run in Group D.

Jackson Mactaggart got the action underway for The Bahamas in the number two singles slot and was able to easily secure a victory in straight sets over Ethan Warner. He won 6-1 and 6-1. Jerold Carroll did the same in the second match in the number one singles slot against Aidan Clarke. Carroll won 6-1 and 6-1.

In the doubles portion, William McCartney and Jackson Mactaggart teamed up to take on Clarke and Cristian Blunte. The Bahamian doubles team won in straight sets to complete the sweep. The score was 6-2 and 6-0.

They will return to the court today taking on Nicaragua in their final group game. A victory for The Bahamas will give them a spot in the championship round while a loss can have them battling for a sixth through 10th position, based on a set count with Nicaragua.

BreAnn Ferguson kicked off the Billie King Junior Cup action for The Bahamas. She posted with a straight set victory over Iyana Paul. Ferguson won 6-3 and 6-3. In the number one singles slot, Jalisa Clarke was not able to win over Jessica Eudovich. She fell 1-6 and 1-6.

In doubles, Ferguson teamed up with her older cousin, Sapphire Ferguson. The cousin duo took on Paul and Eudovich. In the end, it was the St. Lucians who came out after a physically demanding match. The Fergusons fell, 6-7(5) and 6-7(6).

The girls return to action today to play against the second-seeded Guatemalan team. A win will advance the team to the championship round, playing for a first through eighth spot at the tournament. 

On Monday, The Bahamas’ Junior Davis Cup team turned back Jamaica, 2-1, with McCartney falling 2-6 and 4-6 in the number two singles slot. Carroll secured the number one singles 6-3 and 6-2 victory to set up a decisive doubles match. Carroll and Mactaggart teamed up. They clinched the tie with a win in straight sets, 6-3 and 6-2.

The boys team is coached by Bradley Bain and the girls team is coached by Marion Bain.

 Home|Sports|Mingoes upset one of the top teams in the NPBASports

The Nassau GuardianSend an emailMarch 1, 2023 181 1 minute readFacebookTwitterLinkedInShare via Email

The University of The Bahamas (UB) Mingoes men’s basketball team started off slowly against one of the top teams in the New Providence Basketball Association (NPBA) at the A.F. Adderley Gymnasium on Saturday night, but recovered and proved the adage of ‘it’s how you finish that matters’ to be true. 

The Mingoes trailed Sand Dollar, 14-4, with 2:57 to go in the first quarter, but came back to pick up one of the team’s biggest wins of the season, prevailing 68-58 over the second place Sand Dollar team. Sand Dollar leads the John Archer Division with an 8-2 win/loss record following the loss, and is second overall behind the Discount Distributor Liquor Rockets who are an unblemished 10-0. They lead the Vince Ferguson Division.

Erquantae Edgecombe led the Mingoes with 28 points and five rebounds. Justin Burrows contributed 13 points, seven steals and six rebounds and Ricardo Taylor Jr. posted 11 points.

“The shots were falling for us here tonight,” Edgecombe said. “We had a lot of inside shots that connected. We need those shots to drop. The game plan was to come out defensively with a lot of communication and talk with intensity, especially coming from an international tour and using that experience here in the league.”

Edgecombe scored 15 points, including three three-pointers, in the second quarter to help the Mingoes even the score at 25 at the half.

In the third quarter, Edgecombe and Ricardo Taylor Jr. combined for 17 points to push the Mingoes ahead 53-40.

The Mingoes were able to hold off a late surge from Sand Dollar to pick up the 68-58 win.

The Mingoes had 36 points in the paint and 24 points off fast breaks.

Delano Armbrister and Theodore Grant each contributed four assists for the Mingoes.

A big statistic for the Mingoes was turnovers and points off turnovers. The Mingoes forced 29 turnovers and were able to covert those turnovers into 32 points.

The Mingoes now hold firm in the third spot in the Vince Ferguson Division with a 5-5 record. Sand Dollar still leads the John Archer Division with an 8-2 record.

The Mingoes are expected to play Zulu Media Marketing on Friday at 7 p.m. at the A.F. Adderley Gymnasium.

 Home|Sports|Hinds’ five-wicket haul not enough as The Bahamas fallsSports

Simba FrenchSend an emailMarch 1, 2023 218 3 minute readFacebookTwitterLinkedInShare via Email

Bahamian senior men’s national cricket team bowler Kervon Hinds saw his historic five-wicket haul spoiled as The Bahamas finished 94/8 against the Cayman Islands, losing by 31 runs at the St. Albans Ground in Buenos Aires, 

Argentina, yesterday.

It was their second match in the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) 2024 TwentyTwenty (T20) World Cup Sub Regional Americas Qualifier 2023. The Bahamas now sits in third in the standings with a 1-1 win/loss record and four points. They won by four wickets over Panama on Sunday to get their campaign started. Bermuda and the host country Argentina are also competing.

Hinds is the first bowler to have a five-wicket haul for The Bahamas in international T20 action.

Against Cayman, the Cayman Islands won the toss and chose to bat. The Bahamas got off to a good start in the first three overs, only allowing 14 runs, but didn’t collect any Cayman Islands wicket. Hinds changed all that in the fourth over when he got Brian Corbin on a drive that Festus Benn caught. The Cayman Islands were 22/1 after that over.

The Cayman Islands duo of man-of-the-match Yeron DeAlwis and Paul Manning steadied their side. The Bahamas could not break up the partnership that yielded 48 runs. In the 10th over, 

wCayman tallied 72 runs for the loss of just one wicket.

The Bahamas’ captain Marc Taylor had a delivery, broke up the partnership of DeAlwis and Manning when wicketkeeper Julio Jemison stumped Manning out for 17 runs in the 11th over. By the end of the 16th over, The Bahamas collected four wickets but none was the elusive DeAlwis who was a thorn to the Bahamian squad. He had 54 runs after 16 overs with Cayman scoring 101 runs for the loss of five wickets.

Hinds bowled the 19th over for The Bahamas and made a direct impact in the game as he finally got DeAlwis on a catch by Benn. DeAlwis had 74 runs off 57 balls and Cayman had 121 runs for six wickets. Hinds took two more wickets to slow down the Cayman Islands whose total was at 123 for the loss of eight wickets after 19 overs.

They ended that inning at 125 all out with Narendra Ekanayake claiming the final two wickets.

Hinds completed a full spell and grabbed five wickets while giving up just 18 runs. Benn and Ekanayake finished with two wickets each and gave up 18 and 15 runs, respectively.

The Bahamas was on track after the first three overs, scoring 17 runs not out and needing 109 runs from 102 balls. Taylor, as expected, faced most balls and had 14 runs while Ekanayake had three runs. Fast forward to the end of the seventh over, and The Bahamas’ batting took a hit as Ekanayake (three), Hinds (two), Gregory Taylor Jr. (two) and Turan Brown (zero) were out by the end of seventh over. The Bahamas was at 33 runs for four wickets with Taylor on 20 runs and Benn joining him at the other batting end. The Bahamas needed 93 runs from 78 balls.

The partnership of Taylor and Benn accumulated for 20 runs before Taylor was out in the 11th over on 35 runs that consisted of four fours and one six.

It went downhill for The Bahamas’ batting after that over although Benn and Jonathan Barry were able to stop the wickets from falling. They were unable to pick up the strike and run rates. Barry was out for 22 runs in the 19th over with The Bahamas on 91 runs for the loss of eight wickets and the game out of reach.

Today is a rest day for all of the teams. The Bahamas will be in action on Thursday when they play against the host nation at the same location as yesterday’s game. That match starts at 1 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) and will be streamed live on the website www.icc.tv.

The team is looking to be one of the top three teams at the tournament and move on to the Americas regional final which will be played in September of this year. The top three teams will be joined by Canada in that regional final and the winner of that tournament will secure a spot in the 2024 T20 World Cup, set to be held in June 2024 in the United States and the West Indies.

 Home|Sports|Hugh title goes to Sunland!Sports

Sheldon LongleySend an emailFebruary 28, 2023 927 4 minute readFacebookTwitterLinkedInShare via Email

The Sunland Baptist Stingers knew that they would have to play stellar defense if they wanted to repeat as Hugh Campbell champions on Monday night, and they did just that, but few expected the kind of masterpiece they exhibited in shocking the favored C.I. Gibson Rattlers.

In a complete wire-to-wire domination, the Stingers rolled past the Rattlers, 64-52, to win their second straight Hugh Campbell Basketball Championship at the Kendal G.L. Isaacs National Gymnasium on Monday night.

The way the Stingers started the game, set the tone throughout as the Rattlers struggled to get anything going offensively. C.I. went seven minutes without a field goal at the start of the game and ended the first quarter a woeful 1-for-15 from the field. The Stingers struggled offensively as well, but they threw down the gauntlet early. They were there to stifle any offensive attack from the Rattlers for 32 minutes, and score when they needed to, in order to come out on top.

The first quarter ended 11-6 in favor of the Stingers and much of the same defensive intensity continued in the second quarter and throughout the game. The bewildered Rattlers shot just 20-for-74 from the floor for the game, making 27 percent of their shots, including knocking down just one three-point shot in 18 attempts on the night. Starting point guard James Delia, in particular, struggled, going 0-for-9 from three-point range.

Still, the Rattlers found themselves down just 28-22 at the half and within striking distance in the fourth.

“Our identity is defense. We know that we have guys who could score multiple ways on the floor, but the strategy is always to come out and be aggressive defensively. We were able to get multiple stops tonight and that was the key in the game,” said Stingers Head Coach Jay Philippe.

They won the title in 2020, knocking off the C.C. Sweeting Cobras in the championship game, and then the tournament was halted for two years due to the threat of COVID-19. Both the C.I. Gibson Rattlers and perennial champions Tabernacle Baptist Falcons – who defeated the Stingers for the Grand Bahama Secondary Schools Athletic Association (GBSSAA) senior boys title this year – missed that Hugh Campbell tournament in 2020. With the classic back after the hiatus, the Stingers picked up where they left off.

“A lot of persons said 2020 was a fluke because C.I. wasn’t there and Tabernacle wasn’t there, so we had a point to prove,” said Philippe. “We wanted to come out here and show the country that we are an elite basketball program and we’re going to be good for a long time.”

The Stingers didn’t shoot the ball particularly well either on Monday, but their defense was so good that it set the tone for the game. They were 23-for-65 from the field offensively, shooting just 35.4 percent for the game. They were just 3-for-21 from three-point range.

“You can’t be missing almost 30 layups, and make one jump shot, and expect to come out on top,” said Rattlers Head Coach Kevin ‘KJ’ Johnson. “They came out more prepared than us and they deserved to win. They’re true champions. At the end of the day, we just didn’t play Rattlers basketball, on both sides of the floor. The offense was off, but defensively we didn’t do what we needed to do to stay in the game. Sunland wanted it more and they came out on top.”

After the Stingers built a 15-6 lead early, the closest the Rattlers got for the rest of the first half was three points, 19-16. Highlighted by a three-point shot from Tianno Roberts, his only trey of the game, the Stingers scored seven in a row to open their first double-digit lead of the game at 26-16. They went on to lead 28-22 at the half.

The Stingers kept the pressure on in the third quarter, building the lead to as much as 14 points, 43-29, before settling for a 45-35 advantage after three. The closest the Rattlers got in the fourth quarter was seven points. Turnovers and missed shots haunted them and they just couldn’t build any consistent momentum.

Roberts scored 19 points and added six rebounds and four steals for the Stingers. Donnell Basden contributed 12 points, a game-high 17 rebounds and added six block shots. Their captain Jordan Saunders added 11 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

Delia paced the Rattlers with 19 points and added eight rebounds. Dieunel Joseph added 15 points and 11 rebounds and Tashon Butler shook off a poor shooting performance in the first half to finish with 12 points. Head Coach Johnson said he’s only losing four players so he’s optimistic about the squad he has coming back next year.

“We wanted to keep James (Delia) out the paint and that worked for us,” said Stingers Head Coach Philippe. “We know that he (Delia) is a very smart, aggressive guard and we wanted to force other guys to beat us. We did a great job of taking him out of the game and that worked for us.”

Philippe said they’re proud of the program and winning culture they have established at Sunland and are looking for even greener pastures in the future. 

“We’re just so happy. This win means a lot for Grand Bahama,” said Philippe. “We just sat in the zone defense all night and forced them to beat us with jump shots. We knew that would be hard for them to do. They weren’t able to make shots and we came out victorious. These guys put in time every day, just consistent practicing. It paid off and I’m so proud of them.”

In winning their second straight title and second in school history, the Stingers denied the Rattlers a sixth Hugh Campbell championship. The Rattlers remain tied with the Cobras and the Catholic High Crusaders with five Hugh Campbell titles. The Tabernacle Baptist Falcons have won the most titles in tournament history, with eight.

 Home|Sports|Bahamian swimmers help Bison win conferenceSports

Simba FrenchSend an emailFebruary 28, 2023 401 3 minute readFacebookTwitterLinkedInShare via Email

One thing that the Howard University Bison is not short on is Bahamian swimmers and that was evident at the Northeast Conference (NEC) Championships that concluded on Saturday at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio.

There were three Bahamian male swimmers who helped the Bison earn a dominant team victory.

Swimming on the men’s team were Erald Thompson III and brothers Luke-Kennedy and Mark-Anthony Thompson. The men’s team scored 928 points for first while the Long Island University Sharks finished second with 759 points. Finishing third was the St. Francis College Terriers with 634 points.

The ladies team that included Bahamians Zaylie-Elizabeth Thompson and Kaliyah Albury placed fourth out of nine teams. They scored 498 points. Central Connecticut State University won with 659 points.

Luke-Kennedy Thompson was a part of the 800-yard free relay that set a new meet and school record. Making up the team with him were Mark-Anthony Beckles, Reese Samuel and Miles Simon. Anchored by Thompson, they clocked a winning time of 6:35.84. The Terriers were their closest competition as they touched the wall in 6:40.72. Wagner College was third, almost 10 seconds later with a time of 6:43.99.

Zaylie-Elizabeth Thompson swam the first leg of the 800-yard free relay with Zuzu Nwaeze, Skylar Debnam and Madison Freeland. They set a new school record of 7:37.25 but finished fourth. Winning that race was Wagner College with a time of 7:22.49.

Luke-Kennedy won a silver medal in the 500-yard free when he and the Terriers’ Valentin Schnermann had a photo finish with Schnermann winning with a meet record of 4:28.77. Thompson, who clocked 4:28.79, led on the final lap but Schnermann was able to sneak past him. The Sharks’ Lincoln Greseth was third, recording a time of 4:32.91. Mark-Anthony Thompson was seventh after posting a time of 4:45.34.

Luke-Kennedy swam 3:57.43 in the 400-yard individual medley (IM). He was beaten by the Sharks’ Daniel Fernandez who set a new meet record of 3:57.17. Wagner’s Russell Gavino was third in 4:01.13. Erald Thompson III placed seventh in that championship final in 4:10.50.

Luke-Kennedy won his final silver medal of the meet in the 1650-yard free. The senior powered his way through the grueling race to finish in 16:03.56. Wagner’s Ruben Van Gool won that race with a time of 15:55.17. Greseth was behind Thompson and touched the wall in 16:04.09.

Zaylie-Elizabeth was in action in the 200-yard IM and won a bronze medal in a time of 2:04.53. Her teammate Michaela Spears won gold in a quick 2:03.31.

It was a team effort from Zaylie-Elizabeth, Courtney Connolly, Kelsey Roberson and Nwaeze, winning a silver medal in the 200-yard medley relay. They stopped the clock at 1:43.94. Winning that race was the Sharks in a time of 1:41.67.

In the 100-yard breaststroke, Zaylie-Elizabeth swam away with the bronze medal, recording a time of 1:03.67. The Sharks’ Vienna Anderson won in 1:02.37.

Also swimming in the 100-yard breast was Bahamian Jami Hepburn who swam for the Stonehill College Skyhawks. She swam in the ‘B’ final and clocked 1:05.79 for second in that event. Wagner’s Allie D’Allegro won the ‘B’ final with a time of 1:05.70.

Spears and Thompson finished first and third for the Bison in the 200-yard breaststroke. Thompson swam 2:19.98 for third. Spears touched the wall in 2:17.76 for first. The Terriers’ Elayna Pistrin was second after swimming a time of 2:18.91.

It was a competitive race in the men’s 100-yard breast, but in the end Mark-Anthony Thompson had to settle for third place when he powered through and swam 55.58 seconds. His teammate Darin Johnson won that race after touching the wall in 55.32 seconds. Finishing second was the Terriers’ Giannis Venetos who posted a time of 55.44 seconds.

Erald Thompson advanced to the 200-yard IM championship final and managed to place fifth with a time of 1:53.04. His teammate Miles Simon powered his way to victory with in 1:46.80 for a new meet time.

Albury was able to drop time in all three of her races. Her biggest improvement came in the 1650-yard free when she clocked 20.07.39 to place 28th overall. She shaved 10 seconds off her time.

The Bison, which has an entirely black swim team, was recognized by news agencies as a school whose swim and dive team is breaking barriers by being a historically black school as they look to empower black athletes. The program is spearheaded by Head Coach Nic Askew. He is looking to cultivate a culture for his swimmers to feel safe and be themselves while succeeding.

 Home|Sports|Bahamian Fred Perpall elected USGA presidentSports

Sheldon LongleySend an emailFebruary 28, 2023 280 2 minute readFacebookTwitterLinkedInShare via Email

Bahamian Fred Perpall, a resident of Dallas, Texas, has made a significant breakthrough in the sport of golf, and sports in general.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of The Beck Group, an American based international architecture and construction company, was elected as president of the United States Golf Association (USGA) on Saturday, becoming the first person of African descent to hold the position in the 128-year history of the organization. He is also on the Board of Directors of FedEx Corporation.

Perpall, 48, attended St. John’s College in New Providence, before moving on to the College of the Bahamas (COB), now University of the Bahamas (UB), and then on to the University of Texas at Arlington and Harvard University. He began his professional career as a project designer at Gideon/Toal Architects in 1996, and three years later, he joined the Urban Architecture of Dallas as an architectural intern, shortly before the company merged with The Beck Group. Moving up the ladder with the company, Perpall has served as CEO since 2013.

He was nominated as president-elect of the USGA in December 2022, and served on the USGA Executive Committee in that capacity. His election to the three-year term as president was made official at the USGA’s Annual Meeting in Napa, California, on Saturday.

“We talk too much about what separates us, and not enough about what unites us. In golf, we’re a community,” Perpall said as he spoke to the USGA’s member clubs, allied golf associations and invited guests in California on Saturday. “When we lean in together, when we include more people in the game, not only will the game get better, but our lives will get better, too.”

Coming up in sports, Perpall excelled in athletics and basketball as a young aspiring athlete. He continued his involvement in sports at the collegiate level. Now, today, he has evolved as not only the first person of African descent to hold the position of USGA President, but also the first Bahamian to be elected as president of a major sports organization in the United States.

Perpall replaces outgoing president Stu Francis as USGA President.

“The USGA is stronger with global business leaders like Fred on our board,” said USGA CEO Mike Whan as quoted by Tod Leonard of Golf Digest, a monthly golf magazine published by Warner Bros. “Beyond his work with golf in the last three years, Fred clearly loves the game and wants to leave it better than he found it. We couldn’t ask for better energy to propel our strategy and mission, and we’re rolling up our sleeves with that inspiration and drive to guide us.”

The USGA has launched its national developmental program, and Perpall is now charged with spearheading that. 

Perpall is married with two kids.