" Ray Victor, "JR" and the Warner University Royals lifted the Tropical Shoot Out winners’ trophy with a 96-66 win over Puerto Rico -Cayey University. photo credit: Charlie Jackson/VINO

Chiverton was named as Tournament MVP for his dominating performances in games against Cayey and also the University of the Virgin Islands. photo credit: Charlie Jackson/VINO

It's been great to be home, said Victor, who scored two crucial free throws to put the Royals on their way to the Championship. photo credit: Charlie Jackson/VINO

Chiverton finished the game with 20 points, 13 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 blocks and was named MVP. “It feels good, I wasn’t expecting it, but I would like to give thanks to the man up above because without him none of this would be possible,” commented Chiverton.

The game itself saw an amazing turn around in fortunes at the half time break with Cayey causing the Royals all sorts of problems and in fact the team from Puerto Rico led for most of the first 20 minutes with number 7, Caez, scoring 15 points.

Chiverton and Bryce Kachinski responded with 11 points each to keep the scores close, but with the Royals struggling offensively Coach Sean Hanrahan was thankful when Antonio Ainsley drained a 3 pointer at the buzzer to give the Royals a 37-35 advantage and give him the chance for a locker room chat.

“I told them not to panic, I told them  its  great we get an opportunity to compete in a close game because that’s the only time you can really see what you’re capable of. Do you point fingers or dig in a little deeper and stick to your principles and they dug deeper,” stated Hanrahan.

The words struck home because the Royals never trailed again and completely controlled the second half. They reached 50 points before Cayey scored again, a period of over 5 minutes and the Royals were now able to turn their attention from not just winning the game, but also to reaching a 29 point margin that would hand them the Tournament Trophy.

“We really tried to revamp some things defensively and that’s where offense starts. We took some great shots and played some good defense” noted Hanrahan.

Shortly after a Ray Victor field goal and the same player nailing 2 free throws the Royals reached the required winning margin for the first time at 80-51, but still had 7:32 left on the clock and Cayey were still fighting to get back into the game.

Santiago reduced the lead to 26 with back to back successful free throws and following an exchange of 2 pointers Caez sunk a 3 to make the difference just 26 with 4:46 remaining.

With 2:38 on the clock “JR” finally got back on the 3 point trail to put the Royals 28 up, Cayey reduced it again to just 25 with 1:35 left and then Victor drew a foul before scoring both his free throws. Mitch Rice next scored a 3 pointer and then with 34 seconds left Chiverton hit a 2 to seal the Tournament win.

Chiverton , who has plans to head to Europe at the end of his college days,  put the second half resurgence down to his Coach “The coach is such a humble man, I never met a coach like him , he told us to box out, stop giving up defensive rebounds and execute our offensive plays and we would win.”

Victor who finished with 12 points and 2 assists was also a happy man “it was very enjoyable” he said “especially the second half, those two points at the end felt very good and it’s been fantastic to be back playing at home.”

"It's been a great weekend,” said Hanrahan “some great teams and a great experience.”

Organisers Steve Parillon and Karl Scatliffe were finally able to relax knowing their dream had come to fruition and had been a great success “our aim was always to maintain a professional tournament, which we have done. The teams have enjoyed their stay, the games were played at high level and although some of them were mismatched they all stayed competitive.”

Parillon also commented on the improvements in “JR’s” play “I’m very impressed with the way the BVI guys played, especially Chiverton. A lot of people misunderstand him as a player, but now we have seen him in an organized disciplined structure we can see what he is capable of. He’s a much more relaxed player!”

The evening’s first game saw Northwood University beat the University of the Virgin Islands 113-88.