BELIZE CITY, Mon. Mar. 5, 2018– The NEBL Week 7 games this past weekend marked the half-way point (with a few back matches remaining) in a double round-robin regular tournament, where the top 4 of the 7 participating teams will qualify for the post-season playoffs. At the end of the 4 weekend games, the won-loss records showed San Pedro Tiger Sharks (6-1), Griga Dream Ballers (5-1), Smart Belize Hurricanes (4-2), DigiCell Belize City Defenders (3-2), Verdes (2-5), Belmopan Bandits (2-5), and Orange Walk Running Rebels (0-6).
In the only Friday night game, Smart Belize Hurricanes visited the Sacred Heart Auditorium in San Ignacio, and came away with a 79-74 victory over Verdes. Hurricanes was led by Kurt “Chengo” Burgess 17 pts 15 rebs, Akeem Watters 16 pts 11 rebs, and Glency Lopez 16 pts; while for Verdes, Richard Troyer had 22 pts, and Darnell Oden 16 pts.
On Saturday night at the St. Catherine Mercy Center in Belize City, Griga Dream Ballers continued with their outstanding road record, pulling out the 74-70 victory over DigiCell Belize City Defenders. High man for Dream Ballers was captain Edgar Mitchell 19 pts 5 rebs 8 assts, followed by Brandon Flowers 16 pts 5 rebs, and Daniel Conorquie 12 pts 11 rebs; while the Defenders were led by Nigel Jones 25 pts 12 rebs, and Darwin Leslie 14 pts 13 rebs.
Also on Saturday night, Verdes was in action again, this time at the Multi-Purpose Complex in Orange Walk, where they grabbed the 73-66 win over home standing and still winless Orange Walk Running Rebels. Top scorers for Verdes included Richard Troyer 22 pts 13 rebs, Gene Myvett 13 pts 7 assts, Elsworth Itza 12 pts, and Darnell Oden 10 pts; while the Rebels were led by James Ewing 23 pts, Roger Reneau 16 pts 6 assts, Elvis Olivera 11 pts 6 rebs, and Dwayne Cummings 11 pts.
And the final game on Saturday night was at the San Pedro High School, where the San Pedro Tiger Sharks remained perfect at home with a 95-91 win over Belmopan Bandits. Leading the Tiger Sharks were Jihad Wright 27 pts 9 rebs, Martevuius Adams 24 pts 6 rebs, and Ashton Edwards 18 pts; while the Bandits had Luther Page with 27 pts 7 rebs 6 stls, Leon Jacob 16 pts, Gregory “Chippy” Rudon 13 pts, and Farron Louriano 10 pts 6 rebs.
(Check the NEBL website at neblbelize.com for the complete box scores.)
Upcoming Week 8 games, all tipping off at 9:00 p.m., are as follows:
Friday – DigiCell Belize City Defenders vs Smart Belize Hurricanes at St. Catherine’s Mercy Center
Saturday – San Pedro Tiger Sharks vs Verdes at San Pedro High School
Saturday – Orange Walk Running Rebels vs Griga Dream Ballers at Orange Walk Multi-Purpose Complex