UVI Voice

  The male Buccaneers of the University of the Virgin Islands (UVI) were humbled, in front of a sizeable home crowd, by the visiting Caribbean University basketball team from Puerto Rico, 104 to 84, on Saturday evening, February 21, as their record dropped to 1 win and 4 losses in the Inter Athletic League of Puerto Rico (LAI).

  The male basketball squad took not only a physical toll at the hands of an aggressive Caribbean squad, but also temporary discouraging mental toll, jeopardizing their chance for inter League play, which features a cross-over of the top teams of both divisions of the LAI to play each other.

  Caribbean University applied pressure from the starting whistle as they consistently attacked the basket, leaving UVI defenders flatfooted and exposing glaring holes in the home team’s defense. The shock of such an explosive start by the team from Puerto Rico team seemingly damaged the level of confidence of the Buccaneers in the first half and this was evident by the high number of turn-overs. It was just sheer luck for the UVI Bucs to be trailing by only 12, 53 to 41, at the end of the first half.

  Several adjustments were made at the commencement at the second half to right the sub-par performance of the home side and it yielded immediate dividends as the 12 point cushioned enjoyed by Caribbean was virtually erased within the first four minutes of the third period. That productive spurt of from the Bucs was short-lived, however, as the Caribbean University players kept attacking the basket. They continually exposed chinks in the home team’s defense and then hustled back on defense to dominate the boards. By the end of the third period Caribbean University had built another cushion of a lead.

   The Bucs made one more desperate attempt in the fourth quarter to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat but their efforts were futile as the visiting side made sure they did not relinquish their lead by nailing a barrage of three point shots, which effectively put the game out of reach.

  However, the home team is expected to bounce back following the loss as they have two more home games on February 27 and 28 against the University of Puerto Rico (Carolina) and the Sacred Heart University, respectively. The game against Carolina starts at 8:30 p.m. while the Sacred Heart game commences at 8 p.m.

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