UBA League Basketball Finale ’09

The finals of the Umgungundlovu Basketball League took place on the 8 November at the Saint Charles College Indoor Center between the young exuberant Tech Court Kings Team and the veteran Old Crocs Team. If ever there was a clash of styles this was it. The dynamism of the Tech Court King’s versus the slow, pass the ball around, bang it inside game of the Old Croc’s.

The final promised to be a nail biter as only one point had separated the two sides during their regular season match up – a game that the Old Crocs won.

With two of the senior Croc’s players unavailable for the final, the favored Tech Team came out hard and managed to maintain a slim lead throughout the game.The Crocs, with their limited team, played hard and managed to keep the game within five points throughout.  Through some consistent play the Old Crocs drew level thus setting us up for a tense last possession. With time running down the Tech had an opportunity to seal the game with a 12 foot jumper, but it was not to be, and to overtime we went.

In the overtime period, with the incredible heat maybe getting to the old timers, the Tech team managed to open up a five point lead and looked like they had done enough to secure victory. And, with a little over a minute remaining a Crocs turnover seemed to seal their fate. However, the tech player missed two opportunities to score the fast break layup that almost certainly would have put the game out of reach. This gave the Old Crocs the foot in the door that they so desperately needed.

And boy did they make it count, with the experience and composure of the veterans, typified by league MVP Darryn Holcomb, they fought back to take the lead and make it a one possession game heading into the last couple of seconds. In the ensuing mad scramble for possession the Crocs managed to grab a vital rebound and held onto possession to run the clock out. Old Crocs win 73-72.

All in all, it was a fantastic display of basketball by both teams. Some costly turnovers by the Tech team and a Herculean performance by Darryn Holcomb swung an epic final the way of the Old Croc’s. Congratulations to both teams for a great game.

I would like to firstly thank St Charles College for allowing us to use the venue as an outside court could have caused some serious sun stroke. Secondly, I want to thank Arnold Moseya whose vision and passion for basketball has birthed this league. Not only on the Administrative side but also the reffing. We trust that next year it will be even bigger and better. And lastly, we want to thank the players for working with us and making this a fitting end to a good basketball year in Umgungundlovu. We look forward to next year.

At the prize giving, the following players were acknowledged:

League All Star Team

Mike Campbell                        UKZN Beavers

Duke Madubeka                      UKZN Beavers

Nkululeko Mthalane                Tech

Suwi Sawila                             Youth of Choice

Snoduno mzimande                 Varsity College

MVP

Darren Holcomb                      Old Crocs

Article by Zeke Oosthuis (UBA) and edited by Victor Shakineza