It took a matchup against the league’s worst performers for Patriots to finally end a near three-month drought.
Stevenson Callender tied his Premier League career-high with 27 points and Patriots snapped an eight-game losing streak after sending the last-placed Co-operators General Tridents to their 11th straight defeat via Thursday’s 95-68 rout at the YMCA.
The Tridents have not won a single league game since May 21. Ironically enough, Patriots were the ones who set off the string of defeats.
And they appeared to have no issue extending it either, having led for all but the game’s first three minutes after holding a double-digit advantage just eight minutes into the contest.
This was after the schoolboys had an encouraging start to the game by building a 9-5 lead on the back of Akeem Williams’ and Dario Cumberbatch’s exploits.
From there, though, it was all Patriots, or more specifically, all Callender, who accounted for the game’s next seven points as part of his team’s subsequent 12-0 run.
The “shoot-first” combo guard had 11 points in the period while every Trident perimeter player struggled to account for the fleet-footed Callender in transition.
Worse yet, they seemed clueless as to which side was his favoured one, as Callender scored on right-handed drive after right-handed drive to help open up 39-22 cushion early in the second quarter.
Patriots’ lead quickly grew to 20 (51-31) by intermission, with the schoolboys being forced to settle for long jumpers, most of which found the front of the ring and were converted into transition baskets the other way.
Even Cumberbatch’s best defensive efforts in the third quarter merely served to slow the Patriots’ train.Patriots maintained a healthy double-digit cushion (73-55) before threatening to blow open a 30-point lead.
Omari Corbin finished with 14 points and 17 rebounds for Patriots, who improved to 4-10 and moved a half-game ahead of Cougars (4-11) in the relegation battle.
Williams and Cumberbatch led Tridents (3-12), who are exempt from relegation, with 24 and 22 points.
