RIYADH, 18 January — After the holiday break, thrilling actions resumed last Friday in the 2nd Conference Basketball Tournament, open non-commercial category six feet below, at the open court of Euromarche here. It’s now on the 7th playing week. The major sponsors are Power Horse Energy Drink and the Al Tayyar Group.
Sultan demolished Al Tayyar Group at the score of 112-61 to extend their winning streak to 4 games. GAMA had their victory in a low-scoring game against the depleted lineup of Euromarche (56-61). Crowd’s favorite, Warriors, posted a thrilling victory over the Dasnet squad in a cliffhanger (70-69).
Jun Soriano led the Sultan cagers in extending their winning streak to 4 games, never gave Al Tayyar a chance to come closer after posting a huge advantage. Soriano was in the height of his basketball career, broke the tournament’s record by posting the highest individual score at 47 points. Soriano was backed-up by the double digit scoring machines of Antones (20), Farnal (13), Oracion (12) and Carreon (12).
The coach of Al Tayyar couldn’t find the right five combinations after making several substitutions. Team play remained the dogma of the game. With the assists of his peers, R. Cabalu submitted the highest score (18 points) for Al Tayyar.
Euromarche made a strong stand in spite with a depleted line-up but to no avail, lost to the lowly GAMA team in a low scoring game (56-61). The never-say-die attitude of Euromarche cagers coached by bench specialist Randy Millare and with the enforcement of Jhun Manalastas, who was fresh from a two-month hiatus, made a difference and claimed the upper hand after the first half (33-32).
On the second half, the coach of GAMA employed a running game strategy and took advantage of the depleted line-up of the ‘super store’. The super quintet of Manalo, Morada, Hernandez, Dela Paz and Meno converted 10 unanswered points in three minutes and never looked back until the final tick. S. Manalo led GAMA with his score of 20 points while R. Gamag converted 18 points for Euromarche.
The Warriors edged out Dasnet in a thrilling game that ended in a cliffhanger (70-69). The seesaw battle begun immediately after the latter fired the first two points. At the end of the first half, Dasnet was guarding their precarious lead of two points.
Dasnet and the Warriors continued display down-the-wire nerve-wrecking actions to delight the crowd. The exchange of points prevailed so tight that any uncalled for error would cause a team to fall. As the game came closer to an end, not anyone of the ferocious teams has had a chance to lead by more than four points.
In the dying seconds, the Warriors led by two points. Duty-fouls ensued and the showdown of accuracy at the 15-foot line penalty area made the difference. Dasnet had a 15 percent conversion while the Warriors converted 75 percent of their free throws. Both J. Payumo and R. Dagdag equally energized the Warriors with 17 points apiece. M. Placino and A. Tabanzura led Dasnet by scoring 18 and 16 points, respectively.
The scores:
Sultan — 112. J. Soriano 47, S. Antones 20, J. Farnal 13, S. Oracion 12, A. Carreon 12, A. Ibnu 8. Al Tayyar — 61. B. Cabalu 18, R. Bernardo 10, J. Grecia 8, Roman Bernardo 7, H. Loro 6, R. Dadundon 6, J. Santos 4, By. Unayan 2.
GAMA — 61. s. Manalo 20, J. Morada 18, M. Hernandez 13, D. de la Paz 6, S. Ronquillo 2, R. Meno 1, E. Casin 1. EUROMARCH — 56. R. Gamag 18, R. Torio 13, B. Decena 10, F. Dalisay 7, T. Acebedo 6, J. Manalastas 2.
Warriors — 70. J. Payumo 17, R. Dagdag 17, E. de la Cruz 12, M. Constantino 10, R. Galang 4, D. San Jose 4, E. Javellana 4, R. Saminado 2. Dasnet — 69. M. Placino 18, A. Tabanzura 16, J. Mimbisa 12, I. Aguinaldo 8, C. Regalado 7, B. Bonate 4, J. Natividad 2, M. Acob 2.
