The Cavs are claiming they don’t have any problems.
Good thing, because they don’t have many wins either.
Basketball’s Premier League champs are officially in a slump as British American Insurance Jackson survived a dreadful nine of 44 shooting performance in the first half before upending the struggling Mpact Station Hill Cavaliers 70-65 at the YMCA on Thursday.
It was the third loss in five games for the Cavs, who have vehemently denied media reports of in-house feuding.
But there’s no refuting the champs’ subpar record, which stands at 2-3 following a defaulted game to Tridents and a 24-point caning from Clapham.
And the slide was all their making after letting a winless Jackson side back into a contest it clearly wanted no part of.
No one player typified Jackson’s disinterest in that first half more than Peter Alleyne, who went scoreless over the first
20 minutes after missing all eight attempts from behind the arc.
Pearson Griffith wasn’t much better either, as the six-foot-ten centre and Alleyne combined to go two of 20 from the field while Jackson managed a mere 20 first-half points.
Worse yet, Griffith missed a dunk early in the third quarter, highlighting his side’s two-and-a-half-minute drought that allowed the Cavs to extend their lead to 36-22.
However, the champs picked up two silly “technicals” within seconds of each other, and Javid Beckles’ subsequent four free throws sparked a 21-9 Jackson rally.
Beckles also added a pair of treys before Alleyne broke out of his slump with seven quick points to reduce Station Hill’s lead to two (45-43).
But the run was over when Errol Pollard responded with a trey of his own prior to Kelvin Patterson scoring four straight points to finish the quarter.
That brief surge proved fools’ gold, though, as the Cavs managed a mere five points over the first seven minutes of the fourth quarter while Jackson rattled off a game-changing 16-5 run.
Beckles top-scored for Jackson (1-2) with 17 points, Griffith added 13 points and 19 rebounds while Alleyne had 15 boards and ten assists.
Patterson was the lone Cavalier in double digits with 23 points.
Earlier, Sean Parris went 11 of 14 from the field for a game-high 24 points and Jeremy Gill added 23 as League leaders Act II Popcorn Clapham Bulls maintained their unbeaten start to the season with an 83-62 rout of Nicholls Baking Company Cougars.
Clapham (5-0) actually trailed 39-38 at half-time before building a 12-point lead (59-47) via a 21-9 third-quarter run.
The contest then got out of hand as Cougars (1-4) managed just six points over the first seven minutes of the fourth, allowing Bulls to open a 20-point cushion.
