The National Elite Basketball League (NEBL) defending champions, San Pedro Tiger Sharks continue to make waves in the league. On Saturday February 28th, the islanders travelled to southern Belize where they ensured that the home team, the Toledo Diplomats, remained at the bottom of the standings. The Tiger Sharks overcame a first half deficit with a massive wave of baskets to solidly beat the home team in a score of 78 to 60.
The game took place at the Julian Cho High School in Toledo. In the first quarter of the match, the Diplomats had a one point lead over the Tiger Sharks with a 17 – 16 score. Going into halftime, the home team kept nursing a narrow lead of 33 to 31 over the visitors. A re-energized Tiger Sharks came out with their jaws ready to clamp down on the Diplomats, and at the end of the third quarter, the tide had changed; the Tiger Sharks were ahead by six points. When the final whistle blew, the game ended at 60 to 78, an 18 point lead in favor of the Tiger Sharks.
San Pedro was led by Milton James, who finished with a double-double, tallying 18 points and 11 rebounds, with three blocked shots. Jamal Kelly had a break out game with 15 points, while Andrew Ortiz finished with 13 points and five rebounds. Raul “Thumpy” Roches scored 11 points while grabbing four boards, and Darwin “Puppy” Leslie and Tryone Edwards tallied eight points apiece. The Toledo Diplomats had Jiovanni Arzu as the game high scorer with 24 points, four assists, four steals and four rebounds. Shamir Martinez finished the night with 12 points and nine rebounds, while Daniel Valerio scored eight points.
The NEBL is one month into its second annual basketball season, and teams can now be better gauged by their performance on the court. Below are the team standings after four weeks of games.
GP- Games Played, W – Won, L – Loss and Pts. – Points
On Thursday March 5th, Belmopan Red Taigaz will host the Orange Walk Running Rebels at the UB gymnasium in Belmopan City, where the home team will try to extend their winning streak. On Friday March 6th, Cayo Western Ballaz will take to their home court in an attempt to remain undefeated, as Belize City No Limit will travel to San Ignacio to try and be the first team to hand them a loss. On Saturday March 7th, Toledo Diplomats will travel to Belize City to take on the Belize Hurricanes at the Belize Elementary School Gym. The San Pedro Tiger Sharks will host the Dangriga Warriors at the San Pedro High School in San Pedro. Saturday’s tip off time is at 8PM and Tiger Sharks supporters are asked to come in black T-shirts. Team shirts will be on sale.
The NEBL would like to take the opportunity to inform players and the general public about the change of rules made by International Federation of Basketball (FIBA). There are a few rule changes that came into effect in October, 2014 which the league has implemented this season. The penalty for a technical foul is now only ONE free throw and possession of the ball, and not two free throws. Any player or coach who receives two technical fouls will be disqualified from the game. Prior to the rule change, a player could have accumulated as much as five technical fouls in a game. Lastly, teams are allowed three time outs in the second half, but with the rule change, only two time outs can be used in the last two minutes of the game.
