Weekend Sporting Activities with James Adderley
Good evening, I’m James Adderley and this is Sports Monday.
The Belmopan Bandits with 2 wins from 6 outings rolled into B.E.S. Gym Friday night here in Belize City to take on the formidable league leader, Smart Belize Hurricanes who boasted an unbeaten record of 7 straight wins going in. Darwin Leslie penetrates through heavy traffic to get the Hurricanes going early as he finds the glass for 2 of his 15 game points. Kurt “Chengo” Burgess did work for the Bandits and here he strikes for 2 and would post a 2 doubles of 15 points, 10 rebounds and led all players. At the end of the 1st quarter the Hurricanes lead 20 to 11. Nick Brown comes alive in the 2nd and he would have his best outing as a bandit tonight. However, the hurricanes have their go to man, Ty Bradley finds Farron Lauriano baseline and the bank shot falls. The response comes from Jarrel Velasquez who swishes the triple and would give the Bandits 17 points and 6 boards. Ty Bradley answers with this three pointer and would finish with 10 points. At the half the lead is still 9. We’re in the 3rd when Stephen Mark Williams drives through the Hurricanes defense untouched to lay it off the glass for 2 of his 12 game points. In this trip down court Williams finds Nick Brown who sinks the 2 pointer. Brown would finish with a team high 24 points to go along with 6 rebounds and would finish with the 2nd best efficiency rating of 28. Jarrel Velasquez spots Kyle Pascasio under the rim, Pascasio make it count and would hit 11 points. More importantly his bucket gives Belmopan its 1st lead. The Hurricanes come roaring back as Mr. MVP Farron Lauriano scores with emphasis. The city team holds on to a 5 point lead at the end of the 3rd. In this its Jacob Leslie falls short on this triple attempt. Brian White is there to finish it for 2. White would miss the 2 doubles by 2 points with a record of 8 points and shared the game high in rebounds with 14 but he had the highest efficiency rating of the night. Folks its Nick Brown who pulls the Bandits within 2 with this big 3 pointer. Darwin Leslie answers in kind for the Smart Hurricanes. When Jacob Leslie misses the easy layup Farron Lauriano slams it home and would finish with the game high 30 points and shared the lead in rebounds with 14. We’re tied at 77 apiece when Brian White misses the free throw and it’s Lauriano who regains the Hurricanes lead late in the ballgame. Down by 1 Brian white comes to this foul on Nick Brown and it proves to be a big blow for the Hurricanes. Jarrel Velasquez then hits the crucial free throws for Belmopan. The Hurricanes could not respond in the money time Belmopan bandits pick up their biggest win of the season by handing the Smart Hurricanes team its first loss of the season on a 85 – 83 final score. In other action around the league at Dangriga, the Cayo Western Ballaz blew out Belize City No Limit 81 to 67, Cayo Western Ballaz got past Independence Thunderbolts 93 to 80 leaving the home team still searching for tis first win while Smart Belize Hurricanes responded to Friday night’s loss with a 98 to 47 win over Orange Walk Running rebels on the road.
Turning to Martial Arts, Bosy 200 resented a 7 card Mixed Martial Arts showdown at the Belize Biltmore . FGolks this exchange in the 2nd round between Richard Gordon of Belize and Daniel Velasquez of Mexico shows why Gordon picks up the W in a split decision. Richard Gordon sets the decision in the heavyweight class and deserved so. Elias Meyer to your left totally demisted Luis Blanco of Mexico in the flyweight class to win the unanimous decision and there is no doubt he gets the W. Meanwhile in the welterweight, Richard Rubio would not let the 
decision go to the outsider. Belize goes out to post a 7 – 1 victory over the visitors.
In football news, Placencia Assassins burned Wagiya 1 – zip on Saturday at the Michael Ashcroft Stadium while at the Norman Broaster Stadium the Belmopan Bandits blasted Police United 2 – nil. Sunday’s match between B.D.F. and Verdes was postponed due to inclement weather. Looking to the weekend on Saturday the VDF travels to the Belmopan Bandits and Wagiya journeys to Placencia Assassins. On Sunday Placencia heads to the Norman Broaster Stadium to face Verdes FC.
Finally folks Sports Monday says welcome to the new FIFA president, Gianni Infantino who was elected on February 26, 2016 and will serve until 2019.
