JEDDAH, 16 April 2004 — MVP candidate Bong "the scoring machine" Rongavilla made his presence felt when he poured in 22 of his 31 points in the first half when Felora Cargo Services of Felix Jordan and asst. Jun Reyes stamped it's class by demolishing Omo Unilever 91-86.
The league leading (3-0) Felora Cargo Services whose All Star Players treated the jam-packed crowd at the C.O.C.G. Sports Complex at Industrial City showed why they are the top favorites at the Inter-Commercial Division when they demolished their hapless opponents one after the other.
This featured game of the night started with Omo Unilever’s Eufimiano and Egos combined to post a 4-0 lead but was quickly retaliated by Rongavilla with a short stab, followed by a three point shot to grab the lead 5-4. After the exchange of basket, the wrecking crew of Felora Cargo composed of the veteran Rod Samson, BongRongavilla, Jun Tejada, Lando Malinao and Ted Jamahali flex their muscles to post a commanding 21-8 lead.
The ever smiling coach of Felora Cargo, Mahmoud “Big Boy” Protacio and assisted by Gerry Acosta exudes confidence every time their boys played, let their lead cut to only a single basket 25-24 time down to less than five minutes in the first half. After calling a time out, coach Protacio tap in Boggie Patino "the rising star "of this league together with Soliveres and Atienza to stop the rampaging players of Omo headed by Eufimiano, Domot, Calso, Egos and Miranda whose “Kamikaze” style of play drew applause to the appreciative crowd who stayed to watch this exciting ball game until the final buzzer.
After a fierce exchange of baskets and the smokes cleared, the Felora team emerged with a 46-36 half time lead. The second half saw a different ball game when the Omo cagers clawed back to within striking distance at 55-57 as Rosales made two consecutive three-point shots that prompted coach Protacio to sued for a time out and devised a plan to stop their opponents to penetrate the basket. With the bull strong Rod Samson manning the post and veteran Tejada, Rongavilla and Patino controlling the shaded area and playmaker Jamahali at the helm, the Felora cagers responded by clogging the lane and put a defensive stop to the guns of Omo players who went silent for almost 6 minutes. Not to be denied, Omo keep coming back and mount a comeback to finally lead 60-59 with the combine efforts of Eufemiano, Rosales and Villacarlos time down to 9 minutes and 45 seconds.
"The show is over, let's go down to business" is the booming instruction of Felora coach to his boys and the deadly combination of Rongavilla, Tejada and Jamahali rediscover their deadly touch that enabled them to terrorize their rivals as they finished the game with 31, 22 and 17 points respectively.
The game between Inter-Company group-B is equally exciting with the unbeaten Bahlas National Carpet prevailing over the Musrefah Da'awah team. In the 2nd game, both teams try to break into the winning standing of group-A when the C.O.C.G. Da'awah down Al-Tayar Plastic 65-60 .Domot led his team with the able support from Islam, Osama and Jubrail while the Al-Tayar cagers put up a good fight led by the high leaping Saludez, defense specialist Venezuela and gunners Gepica and Arboleda but the "preachers" from the C.O.C.G. Da'awah team will not let their team lost at their home turf.
This Friday game should be an acid test for Felora when they met the equally strong Laguna Lakers organized by OFBL (Overseas Filipino Basketball League) under tournament chairman Boy Teves and Tournament commissioner Vener Torres and officiated by BRG headed by referees Ric Lumasag, Pete Roblo, Manny Viter and Baby Dagdag.
