The man’s basketball team from the University of the Virgin Islands opened the season with two home victories, over University of Maine at Fort Kent and the University of Puerto Rico in Bayamon, while the women’s squad dropped two games on the road to fall to 0-4.
Men’s Basketball
UVI 70 University, Maine at Fort Kent 54
The Bucs took a 16-4 lead in the first six and a half minutes of the game and never looked back, scoring the game’s next 11 points to hold an early 27-4 edge with more than eight minutes remaining in the first half.
They stayed dominant for the remainder of the half and held a 42-24 halftime advantage.
The visitors scored the first five points of the second half to cut the lead to 13. The squad from Maine even narrowed the gap to single digits with 12:30 remaining in the game, but weren’t able to get closer as UVI held on, pushing the lead back to 16, for its first victory of the season.
UVI 79 University of Bayamon 60
UVI trailed once, 6-3, just a minute and a half into the game. Then the Bucs went on a 9-2 run that gave them a 12-8 lead in the early going.
The visitors tied the game at 17 with 7:15 left in the half but UVI scored went on a run that pushed the lead to seven points with just about six minutes remaining in the first half.
The teams were fairly even the rest of the first half with UVI taking a 33-28 lead into the halftime break.
The Bucs started the second half going on 11-3 run during the first four minutes to race out to a 15-point advantage. Bayamon got the deficit down to nine on three occasions, the last time with 9:44 left in the game. But UVI went on a 13-5 run and increased, increasing its lead to 69-52 with just under six minutes to go in the contest. They carried this momentum for the rest of their the game, at one point leading by 21, before reaching the final score.
Leading scorers for the Bucs were Ermias Nega with 35 points, Keith Gilmore with 21 and Muhammadu Jawuru with 11.
Women’s Basketball
Florida Memorial University 102 UVI 47
In the first game of the UVI women’s road trip, Florida Memorial University mauled the visitors, jumping out to a 10 point lead over the game’s first two and a half minutes. While the Lady Bucs trimmed the deficit to six by the end of the first quarter, the home side dominated the second quarter, outscore the visitors 30-6 to take a commanding lead, 53-23, at halftime.
The momentum didn’t stop at halftime as they outscored UVI 49-24 in the second half.
Leading scorers for the Bucs were Jazmen Anthony with 14 points and Ramsey Rodriquez with 12.
Johnson and Wales 78 UVI 55
In the second game of the weekend, UVI trailed Johnson and Wales by four at the first quarter’s midway point, before the home team Johnson and Wales closed the quarter with a 12-3 run that ran the score to 26-13. The second quarter was low-scoring for both teams – more more so for UVI – and the home team led 38-20 at the half.
The score never got closer in the second half Johnson and Wales coasted to victory.
Anthony lead the Bucs again, this time with 16 points, while Aizia Travis had 14 points and Jaydn Rice had 12.
Upcoming Games
Both teams will play at home next week. The men’s team will take on Johnson University at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Warner University at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, and Doane University at 6 p.m. on Sunday.
The women’s team will play Wilberforce University twice, first at 4 p.m. Sunday and then 6 p.m. Monday.
