PINOZ-led Australian Customs men’s basketball squad took silver at the 2013 NSW Police Games last week, going down, 42-34, to the combined Hills Council-Hills Police in the final at the Stanhope Gardens stadium.
The Customs five, coached by Ray Policarpio, had beaten the Council-Police combo, 34-31, in the elimination rounds but faded in the dying minutes of the final to let the gold medal slip away.
Leading the Customs assault at the championships were pinoz point-guard and play-maker Redmond ‘The Brute’ Policarpio and power forward Melvin ‘The Captain’ Gapido with his booming three-pointers.
Other players in the Customs squad were Nathan Aplitt, Ben Spencer, Josh Button, Andrew Lattouf, Darren Mobbs, Italo Bustamante, and Jason Zacka.
In the preliminaries, Customs trounced State Corrective Services, 30-19, and demolished NSW Ambulance, 44-29, but were edged, 42-38, by the towering NSW Fire Brigade, 38-42.
The NSW Police Games are held yearly, and participants from all law-enforcement agencies are eligible to take part in the Olympic-style sporting events including team sports such as basketball, athletics, swimming, shooting, equestrian and cycling.
