THE PINE will live to fight another day.
Jeremy Gill scored the go-ahead lay-up with 18 seconds left, as Pinelands barely avoided getting swept after holding on for Saturday’s 70-66 Game 3 win over Lumber Company LSC in the Co-operators General Insurance Premier League basketball finals at the Barbados Community College.
The win guaranteed the best-of-five series will be extended to at least a fourth game after the defending champs threatened to repeat last year’s sweep by taking a commanding 2-0 lead.
And they very nearly ended the series on that night too, having clawed back from a 63-50 deficit with four minutes left to tie the game at 66 inside the final minute.
But Gill raced down the floor for a lay-up that put the Pine back up on the very next possession, before Ian Alexander missed a potential game-tying jumper at the other end.
Gill then added a pair of free throws with a second remaining for the final margin.
He finished with a game-high 23 points while Ramon Simmons scored 17 points and Junior Moore added 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Keefe Birkett led LSC with 22 points and Mark Bridgeman had ten points.
The series shifts to the Wildey Gymnasium on Tuesday for Game 4.
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