JEDDAH, 20 June 2003 — Al-Tazaj won over Jologs 65-48 for the second seat of the best of three championship series in the 2003 Seiko-JBL Basketball Tournament at the Bin Mahfouz Sports Complex basketball court. Both teams played well but Jologs lost their steam in the dying minutes. Rolloda topscored with 18 points for Al Tazaj and was adjudged as the Seiko best player of the game while Garcia paced Jologs with 20 points.
Al Tazaj bannered by Leo Almoite, Neri Lacuata and Viscayno will face United Yousef Naghi with Sihawi Sarip, Nap Solis, Barry Nader, Rick Belarmino and three points specialist Estong Pelagio in the front line. Game 1 & 2 of the best of three will be played on Thursday 6:30 p.m. and Friday 5:30 p.m. (June 26 & 27).
AFI Huta Sete beat Easy Life 67-59. Huta Sete managed to dictate the tempo of the game up to the third quarter. Easy Life in a quick burst managed to get back into the game but missed important baskets late in the clash. Santos topscored with 16 points for Huta Sete and was adjudged as the Seiko best player of the game while Jibrel Gonzales scored 13 points for Easy Life.
This tournament is principally sponsored by Seiko-Al Hussaini & Co. (Abdul Rahman Al Hussaini) with co-sponsors Al-Rabie Pulz Sports Drink (Manzour Kharimuddin), Al Hamrani Fuchs Petroleum (Azzar Iqbal), Royal Brunei Airways (Yousuf Ali Javeed), Giordano Fashions (MAK Jeelani), ABS-CBN The Filipino Channel, Arab News and Al Haddaf Sports Wear (Mohammad Bayoumi).
United Yousef Naghi defeated Laguna Pizza 101-66 in the bona fide division. Coach Danny Lequin proved that United Naghi can play a running game effectively. Their Man-to-man defense was very effective in halting the offensive threat of Laguna Pizza. Bautista, Cailles and Fakie scored 17 points apiece for United Naghi while Adriano pumped 22 points for Laguna. Juls Pakie was adjudged as the Al Hamrani Fuchs Petroleum best player of the game with his double-double performance (17 points and 12 rebounds). Al Anjal beat Gulf Royal Restaurant 76-55. Gulf Royal tried to contain the zone defense of Al Anjal with a barrage of outside sniping in the fourth quarter but Al Anjal managed to dominate the boards and applied the run and gun offense. Munir Kurdi chipped in a game high 30 points for Al Anjal and was named as the Al Rabei Pulz best player of the game while Bugayon scored 13 points for Gulf Royal.
ABS-CBN upset ALJ Prado 88-87. It was a ding-dong battle, and ABS-CBN managed to keep their rivals at bay. ALJ Prado dictated the tempo of the game, but ABS-CBN sneaked in key baskets, especially Nelson Ducha, who beat the defense for the winning basket in his 31 points performance while Gadingan scored 27 points for ALJ Prado. Ducha was named as the Royal Brunei best player of the game.
Freshlook Amico beat Rockets 58-37. Freshlook played well and manage to contain the running game of Rockets. Abdu Jamal topscored with 19 points for Amico Freshlook and was adjudged as the Seiko best player of the game while Custodio scored 13 points.
