Cayman storms into men’s basketball finals

Samuel O'Garro scores two the emphatic way for Cayman.

The Cayman Islands national men’s basketball team triumphed over top-ranked Saaremaa, as they stormed their way into the finals with a 77-71 win and a give themselves a legitimate shot at a gold medal at the NatWest Island Games being played in the Swedish island of Gotland.

Athletes from both countries who are on the island for the games were very vocal in supporting their teams and though the arena was half-full, it sounded much louder. “Saaremaa! Saaremaa!” and “Let’s go, Cayman!” echoed through the ICA Maxi Arena. The women’s team, who just lost their own semi-final provided the vibes, singing “Cayman, hot, hot, hot!”

Cayman pressed the tempo from early and were matched in quality by Saaremaa, who were undefeated through the group stage.  As if the Cayman guys needed any reason to be pumped, an emphatic breakaway slam by Samuel O’Garro injected extra life into his teammates and supporters.

A 62-58 lead at halftime was in no way safe, as the Saaremaa men had clear intentions of making an undefeated run to the gold.

Drums banged loudly and regularly as the teams battled down the stretch, as O’Garro, his brother – Shaad, and Davion Cotterell stroked the ball from deep but Saaremaa refused to quit and kept the game close but in the end, Cayman proved to be too much to overcome for the men from the Estonian island.

The Cayman Islands face the winner of Guernsey vs Gibraltar on Friday.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

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