by Justin MarvilleTHEY MAY SHARE Cleveland’s name but these Cavaliers’ title hopes are definitely still aliveCorey Williams and Kevin Sealy combined to score all but two of Mpact Station Hill Cavalier’s baskets in overtime as Premier League basketball’s reigning double-crowned champs survived a 29-point outing from Corey McDonald before outlasting First Works Warriors in Sunday’s 86-81 thriller at the YMCA.Just days after their NBA counterparts were knocked out of the post-season, the resurgent Cavs improved their standing in the tight play-off race by winning a fifth straight game to leapfrog both Warriors and an idle Pinelands for second place.But the possibility of recovering to a 7-2 mark looked highly unlikely when Station Hill lost their season opener to the lowly Cougars, while dropping two of the first four contests of the year.And they very nearly dropped a third after squandering an 11-point third-quarter lead (52-41) that came on the heels of Williams’ brief spurt from behind the arc.Those efforts, and the subsequent lead, were all laid to waste, as the torrid McDonald found perfect foils in Andre Pierre and Kirk Shaw to cut the deficit to one (61-60) early in the fourth.That initial rally was cut short following four successive points from Kelvin Patterson, before rookie swingman Darren Hunte added a pair of backdoor lay-ups that sandwiched a Junior Moore jumper, to restore a Cavs’ 74-67 cushion with 1:45 remaining.But Warriors weren’t done just yet, as Kevin John rattled off 11 of their last 14 points, prior to McDonald’s dramatic game-tying three-pointer, that locked the scores at 74 in the dying moments.Station Hill still had one last chance to win outright in regulation, but McDonald’s stifling defence on an over-dribbling Patterson prevented them from even getting off a last-second shot.However, what the Cavs couldn’t do in the last 20 seconds of regulation, they did in the first 30 of overtime.Before Warriors could even settle, the champs had four quick points to start the extra period, behind a pair of well-executed backdoor cuts in succession from Patterson and Sealy.Seasoned veteran Andrew Alleyne then increased the lead via a subsequent basket and Williams punched the seams of Warriors defence for a driving lay-up to give Station Hill a comfortable 82-76 inside the final minute.However, Warriors were nearly given another reprieve after McDonald goaded opposite number Jason Smith into fouling him on an ensuing three-point attempt.But the former MVP missed two of the subsequent free throw attempts, while Sealy scored an uncontested basket to provide the final margin. Patterson finished with a double-double of 18 points and ten boards, Williams scored 14 and Alleyne netted 11. For Warriors, Pierre and John had 15 and 14 points, respectively, while Shaw scored 12.The night’s second game between Act II Popcorn Clapham Bulls and Roll-A-Way St John’s Sonics was postponed after rain interrupted the team’s warm-up before tip-off.
