?The Cavs are definitely back in business.
?Two games in and Kelvin “Mr Business” Patterson is already making his presence felt, scoring a game-high 24 points to lead Station Hill Cavaliers to their first win of this Premier League basketball season via Saturday’s 96-63 rout of Clapham Bulls at the Barbados Community College.
It was the long overdue end to a dire four-game skid for the former six-time champs, who never started any of their previous 25 seasons with three successive losses.
They were probably unfortunate not to get off the mark a game ago when the burly Patterson had 26 points in his first action back in a last-minute loss to St John’s Sonics.
But there would be no such repeat of fortune against a similarly-reeling Clapham side, with Patterson scoring 11 points of a decisive 19-11 third-quarter surge that initially turned a slight 43-41 lead into a double-digit cushion (62-52).
And the Cavs duly blew open the contest in the ensuing fourth after scoring nine unanswered points in transition of a surreal 30-7 blowout.
This was after Clapham threatened to get back in the contest following a lefty layup and subsequent two-handed tip slam from forward Halley Franklyn.
However, Steve Grenville replied by going coast to coast for a layup in the open floor before Patterson hit a face-up jumper and Jason Smith added a triple on successive possessions to start the rout.
The contest was anything but afterwards as the game turned into a virtual layup line with Patterson and Darren Hunte leaking out for easy transition scores thereafter before Hunte added a fastbreak dunk for good measure.
It was a far cry from the dreary, slow-paced game that ensued between the two sides in the first quarter where scoring almost resembled labour work in the midday sun.
But Patterson came off the bench with five straight points to spur somewhat of an offensive explosion and put Station Hill up 17-12 heading into the second quarter.
Clapham then made inroads into the Cavs’ lead via a pair of Franklyn reverse layups and Neil Leacock’s long jumper, before Smith ended the run with a triple that was followed soon after by Jamai Puckerin’s uncontested dunk.
It was about the only resistance the Bulls could muster once Patterson took matters into his own hands in the painted area and around the ring.
Puckerin and Smith both added 15 points for Station Hill, who improved to a 1-4 record, while Andre Jean-Pierre chipped in with 13 points. For Clapham (2-4), Franklyn top-scored with 23 while Leacock had 11.
Earlier, Adrian Fowler hit the go-ahead trey with a minute remaining before Challengers scored six free throws down the stretch to send defending champs Warrens crashing to their fourth straight loss via a 62-57 victory.
Alwyn Lovell and Antonio Yearwood led Challengers (3-2) with 12 points apiece, while Lance Posey had 16 points and 13 rebounds for Warrens (1-4).
