CHRIST CHURCH, Barbados – Tyrone Allick sparked a late second-half surge and the Virgin Islands received a balanced scoring attack Monday to come away with a 77-70 victory over St. Kitts/Nevis in the Caricom Basketball Championships.
Allick, a fomer Utah State guard, scored eight points during a 14-3 run that gave the Virgin Islands a 68-56 advantage with 4 minutes, 33 seconds remaining. St. Kitts/Nevis, which trailed 38-30 at the half, cut the deficit to 54-53 with seven minutes remaining. Leading by one, the Virgin Islands scored the next six points.
Anderson Herbert, a former Delaware State center, hit two free throws and Allick scored four points in a span of 20 seconds to give the Virgin Islands a 60-53 advantage. Allick scored eight points during the 11-point swing that gave the Virgin Islands a 12-point advantage. Five Virgin Islands players scored in double figures with Allick leading the way with 16 points.
Recent high school graduates Carlos Hawkins and Cuthbert Victor scored 12 and 10 points respectively. Hawkins is an All-State player in Delaware. Victor, who led St. Joseph to its St. Croix varsity basketball championship this year, is The Virgin Islands Daily News Athlete of the Year for St. Croix.
Calvert White, who plays professional basketball in Holland, and Herbert had 10 points apiece while Jaja Richards added seven points.
"We could have done better," said Richards, who also plays pro basketball overseas. "This was our first game so we still have time to gel together."
The Virgin Islands will take on defending champion Belize at 9 p.m. Tuesday in what could be both team's toughest match up in the preliminary round. The Virgin Islands, St. Kitts/Nevis, Trinidad & Tobago and Belize are grouped in the same division. Antigua/Barbuda, Guyana, Jamaica, Dominica and host Barbados are in the other division. The top two teams in each division will earn spots in the medal round.
