Bahamians experience action in NCAA basketball

It was a busy weekend for Bahamian basketball players in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I (DI) basketball.

After missing basketball action for the first two weeks of the calendar year, Franco Miller Jr. and the Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) Eagles (5-3, 0-2 ASUN) opened conference play over the weekend. The Eagles played host to the Bellamarine University Knights (5-5, 2-2 ASUN) at the Alico Arena in Fort Myers, Florida, dropping both games on Friday and Saturday.

On Saturday afternoon, Miller scored three points in an 80-63 loss to the Knights. The previous night, the guard did not log any minutes in a 74-60 loss.

In the game that he played, Miller went 1-for-4 from the field. He also had three assists, one rebound and one steal in 15 minutes of play.

His only made shot came from deep with 10:11 remaining in the second half. That cut the Knights’ lead to 56-54. The long layoff from basketball activities seemed to affect the Eagles, particularly late in the game, as they were outscored 44-25 in the second half. This was after they led, 38-36, at the end of the first half.

In the first game on Friday night, it was the opposite for the Eagles. They dug themselves into a 39-18 hole in the first half and tried to battle back in the second half. They outscored the Knights, 42-35 in the second half, but it wasn’t enough to get a win.

Miller and the Eagles will head on the road to continue conference play when they face the Lipscomb University Bisons (9-7, 4-2 ASUN). They will play another two-game series, this time at the Allen Arena on Friday and Saturday in Nashville, Tennessee. Both games starts at 8 p.m.

Also in action over the weekend, for the first time since January 1, was forward Charles Bain and the Robert Morris University Colonials (3-5, 2-3 Horizon). The played back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday night against the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) Flames (5-4, 2-2 Horizon) at the Credit Union 1 Arena in Chicago, Illinois.

Bain and the Colonials dropped both games. The forward finished scoreless with two blocks in Saturday night’s 66-62 overtime loss, going 0-for-2 in eight minutes of play. He fouled out.

The Bahamian had two fouls in the first four minutes and was subbed out with 17:24 remaining in the first half. The Flames held a slim 31-30 lead heading into the second half. After the Colonels cut the Flames’ lead to 55-54 with 4:22 remaining, both teams could not find the bottom of the net until the Colonials went up 56-55 with 1:51 remaining in the game.

The Flames split a pair of free throws to tie the game at 56-56 with 1:06 remaining. Both teams could not break the deadlock down the stretch. In overtime period, the Flames outscored the Colonials 10-6 to win the game.

In the first game of the series, the Flames was dominant as they won 67-53, outscoring the Colonials 37-28 in the first half and 30-25 in the second half. Bain finished with three points in the game, going 1-for-7 from the field. He added three rebounds and one block in 17 minutes of play.

The Colonials will look to do some home-cooking in their next two-game conference series when they host the University of Northern Kentucky Norse (5-8, 3-5 Horizon) this Friday and Saturday at the UPMC Events Center in Moon Township, Pennsylvania. The Friday game starts at 7 p.m. and the game on Saturday tips off at 5 p.m.

Radshad Davis was in action for one of two games for the Florida International University (FIU) Panthers (8-6, 2-4 Conference USA) in their two-game home series against the Florida Atlantic University Owls (7-6, 2-2 Conference USA).

The Bahamian only played in the first game on Thursday night where they played host at the Ocean Bank Convocation Center in Miami, Florida. The Panthers dropped that game 81-79. Davis scored a team-high 16 points on 7-for-9 shooting from the field in 30 minutes of play. He connected on two three-pointers. The redshirt senior added three rebounds, one assist, one block and a steal.

The majority of the game was close but coming down the stretch, the visitors went up by as much as five points, 77-72, with 46 seconds remaining in the game. The Panthers cut that lead to one point, 80-79, when Antonio Daye made a three-pointer with five seconds remaining in the game. The Owls split a pair of three throws to go up 81-79. Daye was unable to connect on a potential game-winning three-pointer as time expired.

The Panthers fell 107-63 without the services of Davis at the Abessinio Court in Boca Raton, Florida on Saturday afternoon.

The Panthers will have another two-game series when they host the Marshall University Thundering Herd at the Ocean Bank Convocation Center in Miami this Friday and Saturday. Friday’s game will start at 7 p.m., while the Saturday game gets underway at 2 p.m.

Bahamian Kai Jones was one of three players not available for the University of Texas Longhorns (11-2, 5-1 Big 12) when they picked up an 82-67 victory against Kansas State University (5-9, 1-5 Big 12). One of Jones’ teammates tested positive for COVID-19 and although Jones tested negative for the virus, he will have to quarantine for seven to 10 days as a precautionary measure.

Jones was going to miss the Longhorns Big 12 road matchup on Wednesday against the Iowa State University Cyclones (2-7, 0-5 Big 12) but that game was postponed due to the Cyclones pausing basketball activities as a result of COVID-19 protocols within the Cyclones program.

The Longhorns’ next playable game is a Big 12 road matchup against the Texas Christian University (TCU) Horned Frogs this coming Saturday on the road at the Schollmaier Arena in Forth Worth, Texas.

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