UTT, Clippers battle for final big-four spot

The University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT) and Caledonia Clippers will clash for the final big-four spot in the final preliminary round match of the North Zone Basketball League at the Jean Pierre Complex in Mucurapo, from 7 pm, on Saturday.

Both teams lost the penultimate round-robin matches. Last Sunday, UTT went down against Defence Force in a close encounter 74-71. The latter placed its unbeaten record on the line and took control of the match-up from the jump, leading 19-10 after the first quarter, and extended its lead to 36-20 at half-time.

However, in the third quarter UTT made a 27-14 run which reduced the deficit to just four, despite the energetic point-guard Derrick Boxill being on the floor for the Defence Force for his first game this season. The third quarter ended 51-47 in favour of Defence Force.

In the final quarter, the teams then traded baskets until the final three seconds with forward Steven “Lighter” Lewis netting the final two points from the free-throw line, for his match production of 14, to secure the win. Boxill finished with 17 which included four three-pointers and forward Kyeon Joseph added 10 to keep their team unbeaten going into the big-four play-offs.

For UTT, Jeffrey Harris led all scorers with 20 points and Lazard Campbell sank 18 points which left their team with a 2-2 record after four matches.

Meanwhile, Caledonia Clippers lost for the first time in its four matches to date.