JEDDAH, 29 March — In losing two successive games, Arab News showed they are still in the picture following a 72-68 victory over championship contenders Sadafco in the fiery hostilities of the United Yousef Naghi Open Basketball Classic at the Hafil court in Jeddah.
Watched by a full-packed crowd every Thursday and Friday, the event is organized and managed by the Mindanao Federation Basketball Association (MFBA), spearheaded by president Mitchell Hadji Omar. United Yousef Naghi Electronics Division, the distributors of Philips, LG, Fogoes Meireles Ariston and Nardi home appliances in the Kingdom, exclusively sponsor the event under close coordination with vice-president Ahmed Sfarjinlani and retail & operations GM Jamal Hamouda. The Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah also helped make the event possible.
Sadafco was all fired up to send Arab News out of the running but after a 37-35 lead at the half, they suddenly lost the steam that saw them torridly clawing back to life. They unleashed a 12-4 salvo anchored on the treys and banged up plays of Darwin Domingo and Ronald Batarao that sent the crowd in a frenzy and Arab News to the tight rope.
But Arab News patiently worked their way and engaged their favored foes, with the trio of Sandy Dalit, Abbas and Danao unleashing a mighty comeback of their own to stay in contention. The trio delivered the goods for Arab News to erect a four-point edge approaching the twilight zone. Sadafco, via a twinner by Batarao, trimmed Arab News’ lead but that was the best they could muster, as the newsmakers went to Dalit down the stretch for the kill.
Solid North, playing under the banner of Bileg ti Ilocano-Saudi Arabia (BISA), put more premium on defense and took the sparkle out of the highly-favored Lanao Lakers, 96-90. The game had all the makings of a down to the wire contest as both squads refused to bungle all through out. But Solid North’s biggest break came when Lanao’s shooting went sour in the final thirty seconds, with a 91-90 score in favor of the Ilocanos. That was when Jong Rapada fired a trey and held the Lakers by no means to retaliate. Danny Centeno wrapped up the win with two from the charity stripe.
All around plays by Centeno and Mayo etched their names on top of Solid North’s scoring chart with 19 and 14 points, respectively. Nery Lacuata and Rapada added 12 apiece, while the foursome Joven Batuhan, Shihawi Sarip, John Gatchalian and Barry Nader exploited to the hilt for Lanao Lakers only to find their efforts putrefied in the endgame. In the other exciting match, Barambangan and Dipatuan were in their excellent rampaging moods for Unayan Legends to turn back MMBA Makkah, 80-67. After engaging the Makkah cagers to a close fight in the first half, Unayan got big baskets from Barambangan and Dipatuan, orchestrating the plays that mattered and coming through for the lead and extend their winning run to three.
Propped up by their loyal fans, MMBA Makkah threatened for the last time at 60-68 on a 10-4 attack by Entoman Saleh, Amani and Abangad. But they ran out of gas and practically rolled to their back as Barambangan scored consecutive baskets to secure Unayan’s win. Makkah finally bid adieu in the league with a dismal 0-4 win-loss record, while Unayan entered the four-team semifinal round along with Binidayan Madalum, Big Bang Malabang and Angoyao International.
The other game saw United Naghi team breaking the century mark with another show of no mercy attitude. This time, they bent their ire on Al Bayt Décor, incessantly bombarding with a deluge of baskets en route to a 102-82 victory and boosted their unblemished winning record to four. Shihawi Sarip and Aaron Mayo led the scoring spree with lesser lights like Jojo Makagila and Dennis Elmenzo providing additional firepower.
United Naghi’s winning trend appeared to be in a claw-sharpening mode, while unofficially claiming the first championship slot. But the situation has left the three other contenders Sadafco, Al Bayt Décor and Arab News struggling for the other slot. These teams are confined in a deadlock, needing to win any two of their remaining three assignments in order to qualify for the championship. Other game results had the Angoyao International posting an impressive 76-62 victory over Binidayan Madalum. After posting an almost insurmountable 64-46 lead at the half, Angoyao’s dynamic Exan Dimaronsing and Oroc Sarip duo went on with the lead, tapered off a bit before completing the onslaught with their respective highlight plays. The win also spoiled Alex Tampi’s 26-point effort for Binidayan.
