Carrier-Jeddah Selection wins Clash of the Champions event

Score 2 for Jeddah Selection, 0 for Riyadh in their running regional head-to-head at the Ahmed Khaki Sports Complex (Orca) court here. Score 2, too for veteran coach Boy Corsega on a comeback after an absence of almost two years from the basketball scene.
A year after Jeddah-Friendster ended a regional drought with a victory over Riyadh-Laguna Lakers at the same venue the host team made sure the trophy didn’t leave town by winning the WPBL Clash of the Champions Eid Al-Ftir Exhibition Games held Saturday and Sunday last week.
Carrying the colors of Juffali-Carrier with a lineup reinforced by players from Shadow Lounge and Friendster, Jeddah Selection swept the two-game series against a taller Riyadh side that added a slew of players from Dammam.
Banking on its young legs to make up for a lack in ceiling, Jeddah beat Jun Pacheco’s Riyadh-Dammam by 79-76 on the first day after leading by as many as 16 points, 69-53, at one stage.
That they were able to make the final score close gave the visitors the confidence they needed to overturn the deficit and win on aggregate.
But lo and behold, Carrier has more than enough left in the tank to win the return bout 97-91 the following day before another huge crowd.
Center Joseph Ubalde scored 19 points, Roby David and Morsie Akad each tallied 14, three-point specialist Mark Basa made 11 while Kiel Yutuc and JR Piedra added 9 and 8 respectively as Carrier never wavered despite falling behind by 9, 52-43, late in the second quarter in a solid display of teamwork.
Edward Pening and James Smith led Riyadh with 22 and 17 points, while Paolo Malonzo had 12 and Dammam-based Mamaclay added 11.
The series victory underscored how much Filipino players of Jeddah have improved in depth and talent since recruitment from the Philippines of young blood by companies involved in basketball started in earnest last year.
For Corsega, it was his second title in consecutive weeks having steered Shadow Lounge to the Open Rated championship of another tournament.
Akad, the latest prized recruit of SL, played his first game at this exhibition event and did pretty well hitting a three that gave Carrier a 10-point lead at 83-73 with 6:12 to play.
Riyadh-Dammam, refusing to be trapped into a running game it couldn’t handle against its younger opponent, tied the score at 87 on a three by Pening with 2:45 left only for the hosts to settle the issue with a 10-2 run by Ubalde, David and Ron Magat 97-89, time down to 48 seconds.
Marogong won the 1st Lanao Lakers Inter-Muslim Regional Invitational, beating Bumbaran Makkah 66-60 in the winner-take-all game.
Underdog Bumbaran reached the trophy game by beating fancied Sibuconians 64-61 while Marogong whipped Maguindanaons 95-77.
The two-day event that featured the cultural kalilang festival competition as added attraction concluded with the awards ceremony graced by Consul General Uriel Norman Garibay of the Consulate General in Jeddah. Also in attendance were WPBL advisers Hamdan Al-Harithy and Jimmy Abdullah Beltran, consultant-adviser Mohamed Bayoumi and Nunungan Lanao Lakers officers led by Chairman Sammy Bongcarawan.