Tag: Willis Mackey

Bahamas Blows Late Lead, Loses To Puerto Rico 91-85

D’SHON TAYLOR (9) scored a game high 25 points. Photos courtesy of FIBA

D’SHON TAYLOR (9) scored a game high 25 points. Photos courtesy of FIBA

Tuesday, December 1, 2020

#By RENALDO DORSETT

#Tribune Sports Reporter

#rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

#A disastrous fourth quarter collapse saw Team Bahamas squander a late lead to Puerto Rico and finish winless in the second window of the FIBA Americup 2022 Qualifiers.

#The Bahamas went scoreless in the final 5:43 of the game and was outscored by 10 in the fourth quarter of a 91-85 loss to Puerto Rico yesterday at the Indiana Convention Centre in Indianapolis, Indiana.

#D’Shon Taylor scored a game high 25 points to lead four Bahamians in double figures. Kentwan Smith finished with a double double – 10 points and 12 rebounds – Willis Mackey posted 18 points and seven rebounds and Nashad Mackey scored 12. Godfrey Rolle also added nine points off the bench while Mychel Thompson scored seven.

#Jaysean Paige led Puerto Rico with 19 points while Gilberto Clavell scored 18 and Emmanuel Andujar scored 16.

#Taylor’s jumper gave the Bahamas an 85-76 lead with 5:43 left to play and the Bahamas appeared well on its way to a split after Sunday’s loss to the United States.

#What followed for The Bahamas was a series of miscues that allowed Puerto Rico to erase the eight-point deficit and close the game on a 15-0 run.

#The Bahamas’ final possessions of the fourth over the course of the final 5:43 featured six turnovers, including four on consecutive possessions, 0-5 shooting from the field and four missed free throws.

#In an evenly played first quarter, Puerto Rico opened the game on a 6-0 run before the Bahamas came back to tie the game at 12 on a Taylor three pointer.

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WILLIS MACKEY posted 18 points and seven rebounds.

#After a Paige layup, Rolle would give The Bahamas their first lead of the game with his three on the ensuing possession and the teams eventually took a 17-17 tie into the second.

#The Bahamas had its best scoring period in the second when they outscored Puerto Rico 30-24. Willis Mackey’s three gave the team a 32-25 lead with 5:31 left to play in the half. Jaron Cornish made a three as time expired and The Bahamas took a 47-41 lead at the break.

#The lead reached nine early in the third when Taylor made a trio of free throws for a 50-41 lead at the 9:45 mark.

#Puerto Rico answered with a 12-2 run capped by Andujar’s layup to take a 53-52 lead.

#The Bahamas still managed to take a 71-67 lead into the fourth. The lead reached as much as eight in the fourth quarter.

#Puerto Rico outscored The Bahamas 20-5 on fastbreak points, 24-11 on points from turnovers, 44-26 on points in the paint, and 32-13 on bench points.

#Mackey and Smith were both unavailable for Sunday’s game against the United States but made an immediate impact as the Bahamas’ roster increased to 10 players against Puerto Rico.

#“We just need to learn to stay with what we were doing. The whole game we were doing a lot of good things, running our sets pretty well, and I think at the end we just kind of forgot what were doing that was successful at the beginning,” Mackey said. “But I think that will be an easy adjustment for us in the next window – running our stuff and realising what’s working.”

#With the loss, The Bahamas dropped to 1-3 at the group stage of the qualifiers and moved into a tie with previously winless Puerto Rico.

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KENTWAN SMITH finished with a double double – 10 points and 12 rebounds.

#In the next window of qualifiers, The Bahamas faces The United States on February 18, followed by a February 21 matchup against Puerto Rico.

#The Bahamas would need a win over Puerto Rico or two losses from Mexico to have an opportunity to qualify. The Bahamas holds the tiebreaker over Mexico by the aggregate score of the first window last February.

#The top three teams from each group will qualify for the FIBA AmeriCup 2022. AmeriCup is the FIBA Americas championship. The US won the last edition of the event in 2017.

Mackey Jr Returns Home

As of Monday, June 15, 2020

#By RENALDO DORSETT

#Tribune Sports Reporter

#rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

#AFTER months under quarantine in Spain since his rookie season of pro basketball abruptly concluded due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Willis Mackey Jr is one of many Bahamian residents who have finally returned home.

#Mackey documented his journey via his Youtube channel as the benefit of one of a series of repatriation flights arranged by the Government of the Bahamas. “It was an amazing experience, and I can’t say thank you enough to everyone involved in making this a possibility. I’m so happy to be home with my family and my sisters right now,” he said. “When we got home we were confronted by these nurses and had to sign papers saying that we will be quarantined for 14 days. We also had to sign up for an app that will track our location so if we leave the house it tells the authorities our location. Right now I’m in quarantine for 14 days, but I’m happy to be home just to spend time with my family.”

#Mackey was based in Salamanca, Spain, and plays for Aquisima Carbajosa of the Liga Española de Baloncesto Aficionado, commonly known as Liga EBA. He was named the EBA’s Eurobasket Player of the Year, Import Player of the Year, Forward of the Year and was an All-EBA 1st Team selection. He led the club with 16.5 points and 7.8 rebounds per game.

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#He travelled from Madrid to London on a British Airways flight chartered by the Cayman Islands government connected from London to Providenciales, Turks and Caicos. The Bahamian government then coordinated with the Turks and Caicos government to run a connecting Bahamasair flight to Nassau. Bookings for the special humanitarian flight were made available through the Bahamian High Commission in London.

#“COVID-19 has meant that families have found themselves kept apart due to border closures, travel restrictions, and lack of commercial air traffic routes,” according to a press release from the British High Commission. ‘With an ocean between them, those Bahamian nationals and residents in the United Kingdom and Europe have had a particularly tough waiting period to be united with their loved ones.”

#Mackey made his pro debut last October with 20 points and nine rebounds against La Antigua. He posted four double doubles on the season highlighted by 31 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks in a November matchup against Chatanda.

#A season of milestones for Mackey also included his debut as a member of the Bahamas senior men’s national team in the latest window of FIBA AmeriCup Qualifiers.