DAMMAM, 16 April 2004 — After a dismal match with Sigma Paints, National Pipe Company (NPC) was not intimidated by Mavericks in their second salvo in the 2004 Open Conference of the prestigious Eastern Province Basketball League (EPBL) at the Al-Ettifaq Club sponsored by AND1 and Phuket Restaurant.

NPC’s Cabanayan, the former PBA thespian, scored 11 of his 21 points in the last quarter while Lampitoc and Edgard Bucalin netted 16 points apiece. Ernie Baggay contributed 11 points including three consecutive triples decisively help the Pipe Makers run past the lanky Mavericks, 95-74. Sigma Paints on the other hand, won over STTB in a default decision.

In League B, Al Mouwasat Hospital Tigers overcame stubborn resistance to defeat Taseco 93-78. Bong Garcia, Glen Abrantes, Bong Palad and the rest of the Tigers are confident heading into the EPBL finals after their 3-1 outings triumph.

In the last quarter, Taseco suffered foul trouble when three of their first starters graduated in less than two minutes in the final canto. The Tigers’ talent was just too much that the Taseco never had the chance to overhaul their fleet. Taseco’s main concern is how to put the cuffs on Garcia and Palad, the menacing duo widely credited for keeping Al Mouwasat holds a 3-1 win-loss mark.

In Division II, Dammam Kings, which totes a 5-0 slate, virtually loss their match with SADIP, 74-67, in the EPBL Lenten Season schedule.

Beaten to a pulp the last time out, Kings gets the chance to become the unscathed squad in this season after five games.

SADIP’s Napoles scored 15 of his 27 points including his three triples in the final two minutes, and the surging Dammam Kings stretched their winning streak to five games, with a hard-earned 74-67 victory over the scrappy SADIP on Friday.

Kings’ Adano scored 24 points including his five triples while Hernan Mendiola chipped in 10 points. In another match in Division II, Dammam Hunks struggled with Sharbatly, 82-79, in a neck-to-neck bout.

It was a ding dong affair between PANDA and ASTRA as both teams applied pressure in their defense and offense tactics from the start till the last ticks of the game where there scores where highlighted by five deadlocks and only in the remaining one minute, did the endurance of PANDA boys Rahmudin, Abad, Osama and Suliman made their best effort to outplay the ASTRA 67-64.

PPOSA Sportsfest Opens in Dammam

Meanwhile, the Philippine Professional Organizations in Saudi Arabia (PPOSA) has concluded negotiations with the Eastern Province Basketball League (EPBL) for the opening of its annual basketball tournament to be held at the Al Ettifaq Club.

The tournament starting today and runs until May 14. The program will commence at 8:30 in the morning with a parade of the participating teams. Members of the PPOSA and participating teams of the 2004 Inter-Professional Organizations Sportsfest are: Institute of Integrated Electrical Engineers - Eastern Region Chapter of Saudi Arabia (IIEE-ERCSA), Philippine Society of Mechanical Engineers - Saudi Arabia (PSME-SA), Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers - Eastern Province Saudi Arabia (PICE-EPSA) and the Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA-KSA EP).