Munnings and his team suffers first loss of the season

After starting the season with five straight wins, Bahamian professional basketball player Travis Munnings and the Uniao Desportiva (UD) Oliveirense Basquetebol team suffered their first loss when seventh place Vitoria S.C. (VSC) upset them 84-74 at the Pavilhão Universidade Minho in Guimaraes, Portugal on Saturday.

It was an away match for The Bahamas national team player and his team, and they now sport a 5-1 win/loss record. They sit in the fourth position in the Liga Portuguesa de Basquetebol with 11 points. The Sporting Club de Portugal (SCP) leads league play with a perfect 7-0 record.

The Bahamian had a tough outing as he finished in single digits with nine points in the loss. Munnings finished the game 3-for-10 from the field, shooting 30 percent. He played a team-high 33 minutes. He was a monster on the boards, pulling down 14 rebounds in the loss. Six of those were offensive rebounds and eight were on the defensive end. He finished with one steal.

Munnings’ team, the defending champions, had a tough time holding on to the ball as they turned the ball over 20 times. Those turnovers resulted in VSC scoring 25 points compared to Oliveirense’s eight points from VSC’s 10 turnovers. VSC finished with a whopping 15 steals.

The battle of the boards was won by Munnings’ squad as they outrebounded their opponents, 47-24, including 21-6 on the offensive boards. It was not enough to get them over the top. 

Leading the way for the away team was guard E.C. Matthews with 18 points. Leading the game in scoring was VSC’s guard Alex Peacok with 19 points.

Oliveirense came out strong in the first quarter as they jumped out to a 16-11 lead after one.

After a turnover by Matthews early in the second quarter, the home team scored and took a 19-18 lead. That came with 7:57 remaining in the second quarter and sparked a 13-2 VSC scoring run to put them ahead 30-20 with 3:56 remaining in that period. The quarter ended with VSC up 37-29 heading into the intermission. They outscored Munnings and his team 26-13 in that period to set up the upset.

The former University of Louisiana at Monroe standout was unable to lead his team back into the game in the second half. Their opponents outscored them 47-45 the rest of the way.

On the season, the 6’6” forward is averaging 14 points, 8.8 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game. He is also playing a team-high 32.3 minutes per contest. He is shooting 50 percent from the field and 25.8 percent from deep.

His 8.8 boards per contest is ranked at number six in the league.

Next up for Oliveirense is a home matchup against Barreirense on Saturday December 5. They will be looking to start another winning streak, which would be after a three-week rest period.

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