Tritons finish third in “Love and Basketball” Tournament
Tritons finish third in “Love and Basketball” Tournament
Tritons finish third in “Love and Basketball” Tournament
2/16/2022
The University of Guam Men’s Basketball Team lost two games on Sunday at the “Love and Basketball” Tournament held at the Vicente S.A. Benavente Middle School Gym in Dededo, finishing the tournament in third place out of eight teams with an overall 2-2 record.
In the first game, the Tritons took on MicroFriends and were defeated 57-51. Although the Tritons started strong with their first five players, they had a difficult time maintaining their lead and went into a back-and-forth game with MicroFriends. UOG changed its strategy toward the end of the first half and managed to gain a 25-22 lead before halftime.
The Tritons led 31-26 in the final 20 minutes but lost their momentum after rotating out their starting five players. Unfortunately for the Tritons, they never got their lead back and fell behind 11 points before ending the game with a 57-51 defeat to MicroFriends. Diane’ “D” Blackmon led UOG with 22 points in the first game while Matt Santos added 11 points.
The loss sent the Tritons to the loser bracket, where they had the opportunity to face Team F.O.E. — an old rival that defeated them in an elimination game at the “Take It 2 the South” tournament. Team F.O.E. sent the Tritons home again after defeating them 54-50 in a close battle. It was a back-and-forth game until Team F.O.E. pulled away with a four-point lead at the end to secure the win.
The Tritons had a challenging time scoring with Team F.O.E.’s strong defense throughout the night. Santos was the only double-digit scorer for UOG in the second game with 12 points while Blackmon added six points.
This week, the Tritons will compete in their last community tournament of the season at the “Take It 2 the South Part 2” tournament. They are scheduled to take on the Just-Shoot-It basketball club at 8 p.m. Tuesday night at the Talofofo Gym. The Tritons will return to the UOG Calvo Field House in March to start their Triton Men’s Basketball Tournament.
All UOG games are recorded and posted on the Triton Athletics YouTube channel. Fans can also tune into the Triton Sports Zone video podcast to stay up to date with the latest athletics news, watch exclusive athlete interviews, and learn about upcoming events and games. The podcast episodes are live at 6 p.m. every Thursday on the Triton Athletics Facebook channel.