RIYADH, 15 August 2003 — Allain Catalan (Kudu) and Jess Ritualo (Zahran) led their respective teams to victory during game one, semifinal round of the Jeraisy Group of Companies Inter-Company (Bonafide) Basketball Tournament being held at the Jeraisy Staff Compound Basketball Court, Exit 7 (back of Al-Imam University, Riyadh).
Catalan finished with 22 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 assists in the encounter with the Dunkin Donuts team while Ador Aguinaldo and Rodel Manalo added 20 and 17 points respectively to seal the victory 99-76. Coach Omar Cielo’s Donutmakers fought back when Renato ‘Bebe’ San Diego ran the break with Ronald Solis and Vincent Estrada, both getting into double digit scoring, and then made a comeback with Dick Policarpio’s high leaping skills. But Coach Orly Casimero applied tough defense and Kudu widened their lead to 14 points at the close of the third quarter and concluding the match with a 23 points margin win.
Zahran’s Jess Ritualo finished the match against the host team sharing 23 points, 18 rebounds, followed by Anton Castaloni and Benjie Enriquez with 15 and 14 points respectively, winning 73-57.
Jeraisy opened the game with back-to-back jumpers by Michael “Flying T” Tamayo. Zahran edged the host team at the early stage of the first quarter, but the home court advantage gave them the ability to control the match with Alex Cerro, Lito De Dios, Fernando Cuizon and Rino Tolentino in the driver’s seat at the end of the second and third quarters.
At the final canto, the Zahran boyz hit Jeraisy with a 10-0 run to take the lead and also made Jeraisy use up their much needed time-out. Zahran’s five assets (Ritualo, Ardamoy, Enriquez, Urrutia and Castaloni) limited Jeraisy squad and helped their side win by 16 points.
