Clippers, Southside continue dominance, as Alfred has block party in Maloney

The Electrical Industries Group Elite Basketball League's (EBL) leading teams maintained their push towards the Big 4 playoffs in the inaugural season, as there were comfortable wins for table-toppers Caledonia Clippers (9-1) and the second-placed Southside Elite (8-1) when round-two action continued at the Maloney Indoor Sporting Complex on Saturday night.

In the first game of the double-header, Southside shook off a sluggish first quarter to get a dominant 104-84 victory over the third-placed Police (5-5), with as many as three players scoring 20-plus points. Meanwhile, the Clippers established their superiority early and often, and put on a defensive masterclass to defeat the fourth-placed Spartans TT (3-6) by 88–64.

The league's leading scorer Ahkeel "Smally" Boyd fuelled the Clippers offence with 30 points on 11-of-32 shooting on one of his scratchier nights from the field, while he also added four assists and grabbed eight rebounds. Meanwhile, veteran Adrian Joseph traded in his long-range shooting for numerous drives to the cup and tallied 17 points, to go along with six rebounds. However, Clippers arguably controlled this game on the defensive end, with new acquisition Leshaun Alfred having a block party in Maloney, which he told each member of the Spartans team about. Standing at 6'9" and boasting a ridiculous wingspan, Alfred stuffed the stats sheet with 12 points, three assists, six rebounds, four steals, and an astonishing seven blocks, tying a league record which was set earlier in the season by fellow Clippers big Miguel Williams.

Spartans run into mean Clippers zone

Alfred and another new signing, Kern Alexis, made things extremely difficult for the Spartans, as the Clippers sat comfortably in a two-three zone and repelled almost anything that came through the painted area. Alexis had the solitary block, but altered many shots in the post and grabbed an impressive 13 rebounds, to go along with his four points. Meanwhile, teenager Jason Best scored eight points and put on a defensive display of his own for the Clippers, grabbing 13 rebounds, to go with two steals and two blocks, one of which saw him jumping high to emphatically swat away a shot from Spartans star man and newly crowned dunk champ, William Francis.

The league's third leading scorer, Francis led the Spartans with 19 points on 6-of-15-shooting, while Zachary Julien and Freedom Leon scored ten points apiece. It was a torrid night for the Spartans, though, and one coach Garvin Warwick would hope they could bounce back from immediately. The Clippers were in cruise control throughout and led 24-15 after the first quarter, 56-31 at halftime, and then 74-43 after the third before getting the eventual 24-point victory.

'Fato,' Friday, Valley shut down Police

The night's opener saw a renewal of the rivalry between Southside and Police, the two teams currently battling it out in the South Zone final. With a number of their key players tardy for tip-off, Southside had a slow start which saw Police building a double-digit lead early in the first quarter. With patience and steady team play being their mantra, Southside chipped away at Police's lead, with a long-range bomb from Jason Friday beating the buzzer at the end of the first to trim the lawmen's lead to 23-19 heading into the second quarter.

Friday was in his bag on a Saturday night, running the point seamlessly and playing with an infectious bounce which spread to his teammates. Friday had 22 points on 8-of-13 shooting, to go along with 11 assists, eight rebounds, and four steals, and was one of the driving forces which saw Southside taking full control ahead of the halftime break. With a stagnant offensive display, Police put up just eight points in the second quarter, as the well-oiled Southside machine surged ahead 49-31 at the half.

While Police were trying to find their offensive bite, Southside had no such troubles, with three-point contest winner Ahkeem "Fato" Boyd and Jelani "The Tank" Valley having themselves impressive games. With Fato winning the EBL's inaugural three-point shootout just a week ago, Police were given a timely reminder of his threat, with the Southside guard hitting six threes en route to a game-high tally of 26 points. Meanwhile, Valley was unstoppable in the paint, bulldozing his way to a sixth double-double of the season. Often finishing off sequences of quality ball movement, Valley tallied 24 points on an efficient 10-of-13 shooting, while pulling down 18 rebounds.

With Southside firing on all cylinders, they traded buckets with the lawmen in the third and held a 74-57 lead despite being outscored 26-25 in the period. There was to be no coming back for new coach Junior Williams and his Police outfit, as Southside outscored them 30-27 in the final quarter for the big 20-point win. It was a stark contrast to the team's meeting in the EBL opener on August 23, which saw Southside grabbing a 62-52 win, and was yet another polished showing from coach Melissa Guerero's team.

Initially slated to start, Clint Graham had a great game off the bench for Southside with 14 points and six rebounds, while team captain Tyrik Singh had a relatively quiet night with nine points, two assists and six rebounds. For Police, five players hit double digits, with Sadiki Guerra leading the way with 18 points, and Nathyon Lewis and Mikahail Williams scoring 13 and 12 points, respectively. Fabrice Fisher (11 points, ten rebounds) meanwhile registered his third double-double of the season, with Joel Hinds adding ten points and four assists.

Round two action in the EBL will conclude in Maloney on Wednesday, with Southside meeting the cellar-placed Morvant Oilbirds (1-8) from 7.30 pm, and NCA Warriors (2-7) taking on the Spartans (3-6) in a battle of youth from 9 pm.

After three rounds of preliminary play, the top four teams will contest the playoffs which are scheduled to begin on December 2.