BELIZE CITY, Wed. June 27, 2018– Here is a recap from the Firms Basketball League (FBL) Opening Night, June 22, games at the Belize Civic Center:
Leading Tuff E Nuff to an 85-65 victory over Gladiators was Douglas Valley with 25 points and 18 rebounds. For the Gladiators, Keith Pollard, Jr. came up with 14 pts and 14 rebs.
In the second game of the night, defending champs Dragons controlled the game from start to finish against Providers, to secure the 80-66 victory. Andrew Vasquez led the way for the Dragons, with an efficient 14 pts, 8 rebs and 4 assts. High man for Providers was Justin Bailey with 19 pts and 11 rebs.
Games tip off at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday at the Civic for the start of what hopes to be a revival of Sunday Basketball in the City! Tickets are available at Civic Center with one price covering a 4-game package!
Sunday, June 24 FBL Recap:
FBL’s first Sunday at the Civic Center saw a full slate of four very competitive and exciting games. The management of FBL left with a sense of relief that every game will count in this regular season, as the competition seems evenly matched across the board!
In the first game, the Armed Forces were led to a 73-65 victory over Police by its dynamic duo of Ernest Tench and Shaquille Crawford. Tench led the way with 21 pts and 7 rebs, and Crawford delivered a monster all-around performance of 19 pts, 8 rebs, 8 assts and 6 stls. For the Police, Davis Guzman had 14 pts and 15 rebs.
In the second game, Infotel International pulled out the 67-61 win over last season’s runner-up, Belize Bank Bulldogs. Andrew Martinez and Kurt “Chengo” Burgess paced Infotel with 22 pts 6 rebs 5 assts, and 20 pts 19 rebs, respectively. Lincey Lopez was the lone bright spot for the Bulldogs, as he finished with 24 pts and 8 rebs.
Game 3 was a “Clash of the Titans” that saw two of the preseason favorites, Dragons and Tuff E Nuff, put on a show for the fans. In a game that really ramped up in the 4th quarter, the Dragons managed to snag the 90-83 victory behind a 25 pts, 8 rebs and 5 stls performance from Andrew Vasquez. Vasquez received enough support from Sydney “Bucket” Bradley and Eyan Rene to survive a 37 pts, 13 rebs performance from big man Elvis “Rebel” Olivera.
BWS Pressure won the final game of the day in the “Utilities Cup” against Diginet by the score of 66-58. Playing without its point guard, Ishmarley Clarke, BWS relied heavily on Travis Bernardez and Alejandro Baptist to maintain pressure on Diginet. The duo combined for 31 pts and 17 rebs, to get BWS in the right direction on the win column. For Diginet, Travis Lennan scored 13 pts on only 6 field goal attempts.
Upcoming weekend games at the Civic:
Thursday, June 28
7:00 p.m. – Belikin vs Infotel International
9:00 p.m. – DigiNet vs Providers
Saturday, June 30
5:00 p.m. – Belize Bank Bulldogs vs Gladiators
6:30 p.m. – Police vs BWS Pressure
8:00 p.m. – BDF/BATSUB Armed Forces vs Infotel International
Sunday, July 1 (Revised schedule)
2:00 p.m. – Police vs Providers
3:30 p.m. – Belikin vs Gladiators
5:00 p.m. – Belize Bank Bulldogs vs Tuff E Nuff
(NOTE: Previously scheduled game 1 on Sunday – Dragons vs Diginet – has been postponed to a date to be announced.)