The Accra Basketball League (ABL) Men’s Division I second round has began on a blistering note as leaders Tema Youth and Braves of Customs have blown aside opponents in the opening round of games in the second half of the season.
Braves consolidated its strangle hold on second place in the standings with a 75-39 shellacking of Ghana Navy before Tema Youth dropped DC Dynamics with a 77-44 win.
Defending champions Customs, had no problems putting aside the winless Navy after ending the first half with a 35-19 lead.
However, the team’s foul troubles gave Navy a glimmer of hope as the Mariners consistently attacked the rim drawing a host of fouls in the process.
Navy Center Eric Adoku visited the line several times in the opening minutes of the third quarter but was entirely efficient from the charity stripe missing the chance to reduce the deficit significantly.
Those losses would come back to hurt Navy as Baniba Dodzie who checked out of the game for long stretches after exchanging not too pleasant words with Navy Coach Alexander Tindani, punished them from the three point line.
The second game played out in similar fashion as Dynamics competed well in a physical game but lost out to a better side.
Despite missing a series of transition layups including a point blank miss by Shooting Guard Jonathan Walker, Tema ended the first quarter with an 18-8 lead with Point Guard Nana Owusu Afriyie scoring a layup and converting one of two free throws.
DC Guard Shooting Guard Sena Asante converted three shots and Captain Dennis Boateng converted another from the three point arc to end the first half trailing by a point (30-31).
Tema stretched the lead to 14 (45-31) in the third quarter and completed the rout with four three point shots from Enoch Borsah.
The younger Borsah on the team dominated play with a couple of blocks and two highlight dunks including a putback slam in the second quarter off a Josiah Karikari miss.
By Yaw Adjei-Mintah
@YawMintYM oon Twitter
