Warriors know a thing or two about failed fourth-quarter rallies.
Alwyn Lovell can point to at least 30.
Colombian Emeralds International Senators wasted a 30-point, 17-rebound effort from their prolific swingman and an equally threatening fourth-quarter run as First Works Warriors escaped with Tuesday’s 70-66 Premier League basketball nail-bitter at the YMCA.
It was the second time in two games Warriors witnessed a botched last-minute rally, having overcome a ten-point fourth-quarter deficit against the Cavs only to lose in overtime.
But Senators didn’t even have the luxury of playing an extra period as they left their comeback effort about a minute too late after getting as close as five points (70-65) inside the final minute.
This following Warriors’ dominant showing in the first-half, which saw the Dayrells Road side led by as many as 20 points (46-26) on the heels of a 25-12 run in the second quarter. At that point the contest seemed anything but, with Jamar “Spanner” Headley finding himself open under the basket on two occasions after Senators’ full court trap created absolutely no problems.
Nicholai Williams followed suit in the layup line while Kirk Shaw readily pushed the ball in transition off each of their opponents 15 missed field goals.
And Senators fared just slightly better in the ensuing third as Lovell was the only one able to manage multiple makes in that quarter, with the rest of his team going a combined two for 11 in the period.
Their struggles at the line didn’t help matters either, effectively nullifying Lovell’s 11-point third quarter performance as the aggressive small forward threatened to incite a rally on several occasions.
However, Warriors went scoreless for the first 5:11 of the fourth against a stifling 1-3-1 defence, allowing Senators to get within seven (61-54) on the back of seven unanswered points.
The run appeared short-lived though, following a five point surge by Shaw’s younger brother Tremaine that sandwiched a Kareem Farrell layup that put Warriors ahead 68-56 with 4:21 to play.
But Williams and Kevin John fouled out within seconds of each other and Lovell kept on attacking the paint, as Senators closed to 70-65 on the last of Lovell’s 11 points in the quarter.
The younger Shaw and Headley also picked up their fifth fouls inside the final two minutes before Senators were afforded two chances to make the contest a one-possession game.
However, Brian Yarde missed a point-blank layup while Lovell dribbled a ball out of bounds following a Senators steal to basically end the threat with 13 seconds remaining.
Warriors gave the ball right back though, and Farrell fouled a three-point shooting Farrell to give Senators a glimmer of hope, but Farrell missed two of the three free throws and the clock expired before Senators could get back the ball.
Tremaine led Warriors with 17 points, and Corey McDonald added 11 points and ten rebounds, while Anthony Forde netted 11 for Senators.
The night’s first game between reigning league champs Mpact Station Hill Cavaliers and Co-operators General Tridents was blown off after both teams showed up in similar colour uniforms.