JEDDAH, 10 May — Shihawi Sarip barely beat the final buzzer with a high-arching triple that swished through the basket, giving Angoyao International a dramatic 81-80 victory over Unayan Greenland in the inter-Maranao championship rubber match of the United Yousef Naghi Open Basketball Classic.
A ceaseless exchange of baskets that produced several deadlocks highlighted the controversial rubber match. That was before Angoyao patiently worked their way and engaged their foes tightly to a 78-80 deficit in the final two seconds. Owning ball possession, Angoyao went to Sarip who took the ball from an inbound pass. He hurriedly dribbled once, faked off two Unayan defenders before putting a desperation trey that found their mark.
That was not the end though, as Unayan had all the rights to protest over the validity of the shot and time discrepancies, causing a lengthy and obstinate verbal disturbance that delayed the night’s scheduled awarding rites. While both squads refused to yield, cooler heads from the MFBA organizing committee, along with the team managers and coaches, finally decided the issue with a share of the championship glory.
The judgment was acceptable to both teams and the supporters of the inter-Maranao division conducive to a sensational case of satisfaction.
"We are expecting the issue to be decided as such because we are already used to it. This is not the first time, it was done twice before", one curious observer remarked. Despite the unusual decision, Sarip undisputedly claimed the coveted Most Valuable Player award for his superb performance all through out the games. "Nobody but Sarip", everybody exclaimed as he walked to receive the award. Sarip was also cited for his dominant role in putting United Naghi to the inter-company bona fide championship over Sadafco.
The awarding ceremony concluded with the distribution of the five major prizes to the lucky spectators, courtesy of United Yousef Naghi Electronics Division. Rayyan Islao, a four-year-old son of UBC chairman Mon Islao, brought home the top prize, a 25-inch LG Flatron television set. Kim Maranda jumped to his surprise for winning a jumbo LG washing machine, while Almina Malang claimed an LG Microwave oven cooker. Amil Macapundag and Awal were overjoyed for winning a Philips CD recorder and LG vacuum cleaner, respectively.
Meanwhile, president Mitchell Hadji Omar recently disclosed that the MFBA was given the nod by the Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah to hold another basketball tournament. The event will serve as one of the many highlights during the upcoming Philippine independence day celebration, starting June 7 (Friday) and will run for three months.
Three divisions shall comprise the event, the inter-Maranao, inter-company bona fide and the inter-company open non-rated. Each division will have a maximum of eight teams, on first come first served basis. However, the MFBA organizing committee reserves the right to confirm or deny any team. For more information, please call up 054-67-30-10 (Mitchell) or 619-43-07 (Mac).
