JEDDAH, 15 February — And so the men were finally separated from the boys, as the seats to the final round of the 2nd Danube Inter-Color Basketball Tournament were hotly contested. The semifinalists tried to knock it other out, but luck was with Danube Fruto and Danube Sadafco who will slug it out for the championship.
In the first day of the semifinals held on Feb. 5, at the Lotus Compound, Lotus American Garden booked its first win via a 85-76 drubbing of Danube Sadafco. The game between the two teams was previously stopped due to rain with the Lotus American Garden leading by 16 points with only 7:34 remaining in the final half of the game.
At the resumption, Danube Sadafco surprised Lotus American Garden with its ferocious attack to the basket. With time down to 3 minutes, the lead was cut down to just only four points. But the usual reliable hands of Allen Ng of Lotus American Garden thwarted the efforts of Sadafco.
Allen Ng finished with 25 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists and 7 block shots for the most valuable player of the game performance. His support came from the duo of Amang Catador and Alex Sargento who contributed 20 and 11 points apiece. Danube Sadafco, on the other hand, was paced by Jhez Alipugpog Alfonso, who tallied 25 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Other Sadafco players who scored in double figures were Boy Cartajena and Roderick “Yoyong” Sauquillo with 14 points apiece.
In the second game, Danube Fruto escaped with a victory over Danube Nouri Trading with the margin of 83-76. Nouri Trading was leading Fruto by 5 points late in the first half. Playmaker Marlon Calayo suffered a sprain due to bad fall. From thereon, the play making and scoring tasks were left in the hands of its star player, Ruen Villegas. Ruen responded well by registering a league high of 46 points but despite his effort, Nouri Trading still lost as its support came only from Lito Llave and JR Jacinto who scored only 10 and 9 points apiece.
Danube Fruto, on the other hand, won the game despite the career-low of 8 points of its trigger-man, Bruce Banaag. The other key players of coach Joy Permejo stepped up their play, particularly Michael Bendicio, whose 26 points and 9 rebounds efforts made him the choice for the best player of the game award. Ample support came from the veteran Bobot Ibesa and the rookie Ariel “Alfie” Gabia with 22 and 11 points, respectively.
In the second day of the semifinals, Danube Fruto mangled Danube Sadafco in the first game winning by 17 big points by a score of 82 to 65. With his trigger-man, Bruce Banaag, burning the hoops all night, Coach Joy Permejo’s ward booked their second win and the first seat in the finals.
Bruce scored 30 points to bounced back from his previous dismal performance where he scored only 8 points. He also issued 6 assists to get his 4th best player of the game award, the most among all players. He was again supported by Michael Bendicio and Bobot Ibesa who tallied 16 and 12 points apiece. On the other hand, Danube Sadafco was led by Roderick “Yoyong” Sauquillo with 17 points and 13 rebounds. Boy Cartajena, Alvin Bernardo and Rey de Chavez also scored in double figures to support him.
The game between Fruto and Sadafco was so intense and physical that the table committee had to stop the game and summoned the referees and coaches to cool off the heat from both teams. With the referees calling it tight, 3 players from each team fouled out. In the second game, Danube Nouri Trading fitted its talent against the formidable Lotus American Garden. The game was won by Lotus American Garden in overtime by the score of 78 to 75. Nouri Trading, despite being undermanned, fought it out evenly with the Lotus American Garden and had the chance to win the game in the regulation. With only 32 seconds remaining in the game, Amang Catador of American Garden was called for a deliberate foul, sending Ruen Villegas to the line.
With the American Garden leading by only one point, two free throws conversion from Ruen Villegas could prop Nouri Trading to the lead. However, Ruen sank only one of his free throws to tie the score at 67. Still, Nouri Trading could wrap it up as they retained possession of the ball, but Ruen Villegas was called for a backing violation. Both teams failed to convert on each attempt to send the game into overtime.
The extra 5 five minutes of play showed the teams swapping baskets but breaks were in favor of the Lotus American Garden as they escaped with a 3 points winning margin. Amang Catador, the gunner of American Garden was adjudged as the best player of the game for his 28 markers. Four other players, Allen Ng, Alex Sargento, Elmer Valdez and Ed “Rambo” Salvedia scored in double figures for a balanced offense of Coach Bong Yapbuan’s ward for their second win in a row.
And being a guest team, the win gave them an automatic 1st runner up finish. The lose was the second for Nouri Trading despite the 34 points performance of its star player, Ruen Villegas. Other top scorers for Nouri Trading were Lito Llave and JR Jacinto who scored 21 and 17 points apiece.
In the final day of the semifinal round, the first game was a knockout game between Danube Sadafco and Danube Nouri Trading, with the winner facing Danube Fruto in the finals. The game was so important that coach Choi Reyes of Danube Nouri Trading had to field in its ace playmaker, Marlon Calayo, despite his injury.
At the half, Nouri Trading led Sadafco by 7 points with Ruen Villegas, Lito Llave and Rodney Gregorio wrecking havoc to the Sadafco team. However, in the second half, Sadafco tightened its defense against Ruen Villegas. And with Boy Cartajena effectively controlling him, Sadafco gradually cut the lead. Only the timely hits of Lito Llave and Bong Valencia kept Nouri Trading at bay with Sadafco. During the last 5 minutes of play, the lead changed at least 6 times and in the final two minutes, Sadafco maintained their 4 points lead over Nouri Trading. Coach Choi Reyes tried to reverse the issue by fielding in his ace playmaker, Marlon Calayo. But with his mobility impaired, Marlon was more of a liability than an asset to the team.
The Sadafco team concentrated their defense on Nouri Trading’s star player, Ruen Villegas. Coach Rey Torres rotated his guards to control Ruen Villegas, who managed to score 26 points, but only 10 points during the final half of the game. It was way below his semifinals average of 40 points a game. Shining for the Sadafco team was its ace center, Roderick “Yoyong” Sauquillo, who controlled both the defensive and offensive board with his 10 rebounds. He also scored 12 points to be adjudged as the best player of the game.
Villegas got ample support from Boy Cartajena, Rey Torres, Alvin Bernardo and Jhez “Alipugpog” Alfonso, who all scored in double figures. From the side of Nouri Trading, aside from Ruen Villegas, only Lito Llave scored in double figures with 12 points. With the win, Danube Sadafco will face Danube Fruto for the championship in the best of three games.
