Faisal Steel, Ittifaq Steel Product in Tuwairqi Cup final

Dammam: Rey Liclican

Top-seeded Faisal Steel Product Company Slashers arranged an interesting showdown for the Al Tuwairqi Cup crown against second-seeded Al Ittifaq Steel Product Angry Birds after beating their respective opponents in a pair of knockout games last Friday at Ittifaq Club Gymnasium here.
Game 1 of the best-of-three title playoff starts Friday. Game 2 is set for June 8, with a decider, if necessary, on June 15.
Faisal Steel riding the momentum of an undefeated elimination round fought off scary moments in the first three quarters before regrouping in the last canto for a 75-64 victory against fourth-seeded National Steel-Direct Reduced Iron-Power Plant-Arab Steel Company Steelers.
The Steelers, looking for a victory to force a sudden death against the Slashers, set the pace in the early going and took a 42-40 advantage late in the third period but they failed to sustain the charge in the last canto, slowed down by a tight Slashers defense.
Twins Roy and Rey Ortiz sizzled with another brilliant performance with 25 and 13 points respectively while player-coach Ramon Hernandez had quality minutes in the second half to score 10 points. Gil Liberato, Albert Aller and Manny Avellana combined to score 17 points in the Faisal Steel victory.
Hernandez took charge for Faisal Steel in the opening of the final period, pulling off two triples and twin jumpers as the Slashers built enough lead from a 46-all to a commanding 56-46 advantage, to cushion the Steelers’ last-ditch rally.
Joel Avero had a game -high 24 points; RJ Ramos added 14 while Nixon Lorenzo and Roderick Gamil chipped in 11 and 10 points respectively for the Steelers.
In the second knockout game, ace gunner Mark Millena was big for the Angry Birds. His poise in the last canto got the Angry Birds into the finals against Faisal Steel.
Millena made 15 free throws and scored 11 of his 38 points in the fourth quarter including a three-point play, and the Angry Birds rallied late for a 65-62 victory over Metal Recycling Mill Tigers.
The Angry Birds lost of their two formidable defenders Oliver Austria and Don Vergara to fouls but Mark Lopez, Chris Tuazon, John Aguilar and player-coach Daniel Ramos made a stinging defense with 10.8 seconds remaining when Sherwin Balisi of the Tigers missed a potential tying 3-pointer before the buzzer.
Metal Recycling Mill played with a lot of energy to control the rebounds 30-24 but seemed to forget to shoot in last 90 seconds.
With a 62-56 lead on Dante Visnar’s layup, the Angry Birds trimmed away and John Aguilar’s spin, Don Vergara’ s jumper and Millena’s free throws tied the score at 62-all with 38 seconds remaining.
The Tigers were looking for a go-ahead basket but then lost control following a turn-over. Millena immediately hit a go-ahead three-point play to put the Angry Birds ahead 65-62 with 10 seconds remaining.
Lopez helped Angry Birds with 12 points while Don Vergara and John Aguilar added seven and six points respectively.
Balisi led the Tigers with 17 points, Deejay Valmosena had 13, Dante Visnar added 10 points, and Ericson Manliclic had eight points. Salmey Lumasag and Dindo Cuesta each scored six points.