What a difference one year can make.
Last year’s losing finalists, Burger King Clapham Bulls are 48 minutes away from being crowned Co-operators General Insurance BABA Premier League champions, after edging C.A.M. Smart Assurance City United Celtics 60-57 on Thursday night at the Wildey Gymnasium.
Bulls rebounded from a disastrous third quarter to complete the come-from-behind win and take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series .
The two teams traded baskets throughout the first quarter before Celtics forged ahead to end the quarter ahead 18-11.
Andrew Ifill and Manuel Alleng then took the attack to the Celtics’ defense in the second quarter, after Marsh went to the bench for a breather. Rahiim Gibbons then got in on the action by finishing a four point play, before coming up with back-to-back steals that led to transition baskets for the Bulls and brought them within two, (33-31) with just under two minutes remaining in the half.
They then finished the second quarter on a brief 6-2 run that allowed them to take a 37-33 lead at halftime.
However, Bulls suffered a nightmare start to the second half, as they unbelievably failed to score in the first seven minutes of the third quarter.
Celtics took full advantage of their opponent’s struggles and their 11-0 run saw them regain the lead 44-37.
To make matters worse for Bulls, Marsh picked up his fourth foul and had to be substituted.
Kemar Benn eventually ended the Bulls’ rut with a free throw and with only one other free throw being scored, the Bulls scored just two points in the quarter to enter the final period trailing 44-39.
However, with Marsh returning to the court in the fourth quarter, the Bulls’ mojo returned and so too did their ability to score.
They regained the lead, (53-52) with two minutes remaining and extended it with a silky finish by Simeon Maynard in the paint through traffic.
Celtics’ Tehron King’s side step three pointer put his side up two (57-55) and looked to be enough to carry them to victory.
However, following a Celtics’ turnover, Maynard came up big yet again, hitting a three in the face of Renico Brewster to put the Bulls up 58-57 with 28 seconds on the clock.
Another Celtics turnover led to an easy layup for Ifill and even though Celtics had three open looks on their next possession, they were unable to score and came up just short.
Maynard finished with 16 points and nine rebounds, Ifill scored 11 and Gibbons and Marsh had 10 points each with the latter grabbing 13 rebounds.
For Celtics, King had a team high 15 points with seven rebounds and Theo Greenidge scored 13. Star player Hunte ended with just nine points but pulled down 12 rebounds to go with his six blocks.
Celtics will look to even the series in Game 4, which is slated for Saturday at the Wildey Gymnasium at 8 p.m.
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