East's Jahmal "Trigga" Rabsatt, goes on a fast break ahead of the Guns' Houston Penn. Photo>Dean "The Sportsman" Greenaway

TORTOLA—New comer Devon “Judah” Watty picked up a loose ball just outside the key and jammed it home after the Guns’ Calvert White tripped with eight seconds left to seal defending champion East’s 87-83, overtime victory early Sunday morning at the Multipurpose Sports Complex in Road Town. On the play before, David “Bolo” Lettsome gave the East a two point edge.

The East erased an 11 point half time deficit by outscoring the Guns with a 27-15 run, during a 17 minute and 18 seconds period in the third and fourth quarters, to take a 60-59 lead with 7:18 left. With five lead changes and the East holding a 74-72, edge with 6.0 seconds left, White got a feed off an inbounds pass, dribbled under the basket, cutting through the East’s defense to score and sent the game into overtime tied at 74-74.

“They wanted us for a long time and Andrew (Fahie) did some good shopping, trust me,” East’s coach Verne “Bego” Turnbull said. “They caught us off guard and we were down by 11, but I told the guys to cut down on the turnovers and push it. We knew how well they could shoot, and we tried to keep the ball in the middle, where they couldn’t get in that position.” 

“This is a tough loss for the Guns,” said coach Greg Romney of the team that has a new nucleus. “We had an 11 point lead and expected them to make a run, which they did. We in turn was to make our run and it didn’t happen. We felt that we weren’t getting the calls that we needed to switch the ballgame in our favor. We had the chance in overtime, but some careless plays on our behalf gave the East the victory. But, we’ll be back again.”

Halstead Chiverton led the East with a game high 26 points. Lettsome followed up by scoring 19 of his 25 points in the second half, including six of the 13 in overtime. Jahmal “Trigga” Rabsatt tossed in 13 points to go with seven rebounds and five steals.

Houston Penn had 22 points and 11 rebounds, with White and Steve Parillon adding 15 each for the Guns.

 Ray Victor and Kennedy Bass had 19 points respectively and Jason Edwin tossed in 18, to lift Young Legs past the Latinos, 101-83. Sandy Nadal had a game high 29 points to lead the Latinos.

Ghetto Mix overwhelmed Peace Makers, 99-37, behind Sean Woods’ 24 points. Travis Issac added another 15. Clyde Potter was Peace Makers only scorer in double digits with 12.

And One used Ryan Mills’ 34 point, 12 rebound double double, to topple the Saints, 90-67. Rowan Victor followed up with 25. Deshaun John led the Saints with 13 points and 11 rebounds.

Cedric King had 25 points in leading Da Boys past Against Da Odds, 96-72. Glenroy Charles had 18 points and pulled 18 boards for Against Da Odds.

Basics got the winning basket as time ran out to stun Another Level, 75-73. Jamal Serrant led Basics’ scores with 20 points and pulled 13 off the glass. Tarik Wilson and Kyle Abraham followed up with 20 and 18 points each. Kishaun Walker had 13 points to lead Another Level. Jamel Joseph tossed in another 11 to the tally.