Tridents' Akeem Marsh missing a reverse dunk against Deacons during Saturday night's action. (Picture by Clifton Henry.)

by JUSTIN MARVILLE

EVEN WITH THE ABSENCE of star players Andrew Alleyne, Jeremy Gill and Kelvin Patterson, the league's oldest rivalry continues to be its
most gruelling.

Spurred on by a stellar defensive effort in the third and fourth quarters, pre-season favourites Station Hill Cavaliers broke out of a 38-all
half-time deadlock by holding the Clapham Bulls to just 26 second-half points on their way to a convincing 76-64 victory when the Sprite/BOA Premier League resumed at the Barbados Community College on Saturday.

Failing to break free of their historic rivals in a riveting, back and forth first half, last season's league finalists made a concerted effort to protect the ball on offence early in the third quarter. The idea was to keep the Bulls out of their favoured transition game in hopes that a slower half-court game would cause problems for the Clapham side.

It did, as swingman Halley Franklyn appeared to be the lone effective option in the Bulls half-court offence with Station Hill denying any room on the interior for forwards Alvin Padmore and Mark Foster to operate.

This resulted in Clapham scoring just eight points in the first six minutes of the period.

Though not particularly fluid at the other end of the floor, the Cavs still managed to take advantage of their opponents' offensive woes through the outside shooting of national point guard Corey Williams.

Guards Errol Pollard and Corey Howard each added a three-pointer of their own as the Cavaliers went a scorching four of six from behind the arc in the third quarter to open up a seven-point advantage, 60-53, heading into the fourth.

The Cavs swiftly stretched that lead to double digits, 65-55, in the early exchanges of the ensuing period as Franklyn fouled out within minutes of the game's resumption.

Williams led the way with a game high 17 points and got useful contributions of ten points from both Howard and Pollard. For the Bulls, Franklyn and Leacock each scored 15 points, while Padmore finished with a double-double of 12 points and 13 rebounds.

A BABA season-high and career-best 37 points from Sagicor Tridents' shooting guard Keefe Birkett, helped the schoolboys overcome
a disastrous nine point performance in the first quarter to come away with a hard fought 86-76 triumph over winless WEEKEND NATION Nico Deacons Fastbreaks in the night's first game.

National forward/centre Akeem Marsh chipped in with 18 points and 11 boards, while swingman Henry Richards topscored for Deacons with 30 points.