RIYADH, 7 December — The knockout game for the 3rd and 4th place of the 1st Riyadh Inter-School Basketball Tournament favored the Al Maarefa International School team with a hairline advantage against the Falcons of the Millennium International School, 63-62 which took place before a jam-packed crowd at the well-trimmed basketball court of the Philippine Embassy, Diplomatic Quarters Riyadh.
Al Maarefa boys grab the victory in the dying second where the “hero of the hour” Adrian Sese converted one charity shot from the 15-foot line for the foul he fished out from Popey Dumrigue with 7 seconds to go.
The start of the match was a low-scoring game where the power play of Jessie Reyes, Mark Escober, Manacling, Jeremy Reyes and A. Villanueva of Al Maarefa against coach Gabby Rodil’s Falcons squad enabled them to close the first quarter, 12-11 in Al Maarefa’s advantage. In the resumption of the game, Al Maarefa cagers continued to dominate the board with Regie Saliedo as Popey Dumrigue was guarded and Dax Rodil missed several attempts giving way for Manalang and Jeremy Reyes controlling the board and ending the 2nd quarter with 30-22 still in Al Maarefa’s advantage.
The Al Maarefa students rendered a special feature dance intermission number during the game’s break to the delight of the guests, parents and co-students.
At the start of the 3rd quarter, Al Maarefa blasted the board for an 8-0 unanswered stretch, two consecutive shots coming from Mark Escober, Jessie Reyes and Regie Saliedo. The Falcons, who were caught unaware with loose teamwork and Popey Dumrigue was checked by Jessie Reyes and alternately Mark Escober was only able to do his rebound and assist to Dax and Don Rodil who did the shooting.
Ernst Madamba and Lester Nadal did their best to countercheck the Al Maarefa boys who closed the 3rd canto with 13 points lead, 47-34. At the whistle of the final quarter, Falcons coach Gabby Rodil reshuffled his squad till he got the right combination of Popey Dumrigue, Lester Nadal, Brian Licodini, Dax Rodil and Mark Dela Cruz who did most of the harassment. Dax Rodil was in his top form who added 12 points in the last quarter as the entry of DJ Ocampo replacing foul-troubled Brian Licodini who shot the first ever 3 points and the re-entry of Don Rodil changed the tempo recording 3 deadlocks in the last 2 minutes of the game and in the dying 7 seconds where the score registered at 62-all and Adrian Sese fished out a foul. Another advantage that the Falcons should have taken into consideration was the absence of Jessie Reyes, A. Villanueva and Jeremy Reyes who fouled out before the conclusion of the game. Also, time was the spice of the match that the Falcons were not able to control in the final tally 63-62.
Al Maarefa was the 2nd runner-up while the Falcons took the 3rd runner-up position.
Power Horse is the major sponsor of this tournament co-sponsored by Pepsi Cola and with full support from Philippine Airlines and Nissah Photo Laboratory. The Sheraton Riyadh Hotel and Towers are hosting this thrilling event under the patronage of Helmut Pluecker, General Manager.
The venue of the game on Friday will be the Philippine Embassy, Diplomatic Quarters Riyadh. This will be Game 2 of the best-of-three series between the Dragons and the Yellow Tigers at 4:30 p.m. The Dragons stand on the advantage side of this series.
The scores:
Al Maarefa (63) - Saliedo 21, Escober 15, Manalang 11, Reyes Jessie 8, Reyes Jeremy 6, and Sese 2 beat Falcons (62) - Rodil Dax 26, Dumrigue 13, Rodil Don 11, Nadal 7, Ocampo 4, and Dela Cruz 1.
Referees: Nestor Carlos and Abet Garcia.
