Tinian caging Final 4 postponed until further notice

The Final Four games of the Island-wide Men’s Bud Light Basketball League at the Tinian Multi-Purpose Gymnasium have temporarily been halted following a surge of local COVID-19 case in neighboring Saipan. (CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)

Last Friday’s much-anticipated Final Four for the Island-wide Men’s Bud Light Basketball League at the Tinian Multi-Purpose Gymnasium was scrapped following a surge of local COVID-19 case in neighboring Saipan.

Tinian Amateur Basketball Association’s Christopher SN King, who is coordinating the league, said the semifinals between No. 1 seed Team Kio and No. 4 Team CNMI and No. 2 Devil Dog Warriors vs. No. 3 Rampage has been tentatively set for this coming Friday, Nov. 5.

King said they have no recourse but to postpone the semifinal games following Gov. Ralph DLG Torres’ memo instructing all government sports facilities to be shut down due to the rise in COVID-19 cases on Saipan.

He said following news reports that the CNMI logged its first local transmissions and upon receiving Torres’ memo last Thursday, he immediately convened a meeting at the Tinian Multi-Purpose Gymnasium where team managers/representatives of all the Final Four teams were present.

“The teams were disappointed. They wanted to play but the TABA officers decided to just cancel the games last Friday until further notice,” he said.

To this end, King has scheduled a mandatory meeting on Nov. 9, starting 10am at the Tinian Youth Center. Representatives from all Final Four teams—Team Kio, Team CNMI, Devil Dog Warriors, and Rampage—are required to attend.

“We will discuss when will we be starting our playoffs games,” he said.

Team Kio finished the double-elimination round with a perfect 14-0 win-loss card. The unbeaten record came as bittersweet as the ongoing season also saw them lose team namesake Kioni Sablan from cancer. Sablan is also the brother of mainstays Dustin, Bing, Paka, and Kim King.

Marines Devil Dogs came in second with an 11-3 record, followed by Rampage at 10-4. Team CNMI caught the last bus to the semifinals after wounding up with 5-9 in the team standings. It actually finished tied with RNV, but edged the former on a tiebreak.

Head-to-head, Team CNMI beat RNV, 76-53, in the first round last Sept. 17. RNV exacted its vengeance last Oct. 20 with a 76-75 nipping of Team CNMI in the second round. The results of both matches gave Team CNMI a plus 12 quotient. Aside from RNV, also missing out on the postseason were FPA Power Builders (4-10), SMA Flyers (4-10), and Navy KO’BEE’s (3-11).