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The men's basketball team rolled Jersey like they were some drunken street bum in a lop-sided 100 to 33 victory.

The triumph allowed Bermuda to advance out of the group stage with an unblemished 2-0 record after having previously downed medal contender Cayman Islands 82 to 71.

National team coach Roderick Spencer decided to go all out for victory early. Spencer wanted an easy win so he could rest his starters for the more important games to come.

Bermuda poured in 33 points in the first quarter while holding Jersey to just nine points.

Starters Sullivan Phillips - Bermuda's only professional on the squad - and sharp shooter Chris Crumpler only played the first half. In spite of his limited playing time, Phillips still led the squad with six assists and four steals.

This gave coach Spencer a chance to see what other tools he had in the toolbox.

Jason Simons, who didn't play in game one, came off the bench to hit his first three shots while former CedarBridge school boy Richard Warner played meaningful minutes as did Jordan Knight. Both Warner and Knight were standouts at the defensive end for the team. In addition, Warner cleaned the glass for seven offensive rebounds to go along with his four steals.

Bermuda dominated on defence by nabbing an almost unheard of 24 steals.

By the middle of the third quarter the remaining starters, Dean Jones, Dale Jackson and Steven Simons, all found they were back to the bench, never to log another minute as Bermuda cruised to an easy win.

Richard Pully-Raynor and Kent Tacklyn scored their first international points for Bermuda.

Even with such an emphatic triumph, Spencer wasn't happy with the team's free throws as the squad hit just 51 per cent from the line.

Jonathan Minors was selected as Player of the Game by snagging a double-double with 14 points and 13 boards. He also had two steals and three assists.

Jason Simons was the high point man for Bermuda with 21 and contributed two rebounds and three steals while Jason Lowe came off the bench with a well-rounded game of eight points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Menorca, the 2007 Island Games gold medal winner, also completed their group 2-0 with two convincing wins over Gibraltar (75 to 40) and Isle of Man (119 to 41). Rhodes finished Group C undefeated with a victory over Saaremaa (77 to 70) and hosts Aland (141 to 42).[[In-content Ad]]

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