Faisal Steel nails Game 1; Metal Recycling third in Tuwairqi Cup

Dammam: Rey Liclican

Big twins Rey and Roy Ortiz provided the scoring while Manny Avellana took care of business in the defensive end to give top-seeded Faisal Steel Product Company Slashers a thrilling 87-85 overtime victory against Al Ittifaq Steel Products Corporate Angry Birds in Game 1 of the best-of-three finals in the 1st Al Tuwairqi Basketball Cup at Al Ittifaq Club Gymnasium on Friday night.
Rey and Roy provided another stellar performances with 24 and 23 points respectively to go with a combined 21 rebounds but Avellana had a defensive steal on the Angry Birds’ final ball possession in overtime with six seconds remaining to preserve the victory.
The regulation period ended 74-all. Ittifaq Steel ace gunner Mark Millena’s split free throw tied the game with 10 seconds left.
The Slashers had a chance to win the game but playmaker Albert Aller’s layup was short sending the game into overtime.
Ittifaq was inspired by the presence of veteran forward Edgar Ambat, shot 48 percent compared to the 43 percent field goal shooting by its rival in the first half. Ambat’s jumper with 3:24 left helped Angry Birds ignite a 10-3 run and eventually grab the lead 36-33, from a 10-16 deficit in the 1st quarter.
Faisal Steel opened the second half with a 12-6 surge, and eventually took the lead, 45-42 as Rommel Tolentino and Albert Aller helped the Slashers in scoring, but the Angry Birds John Aguilar and Mark Millena provided clutch shooting down the stretch and still led 56-54, at the end of three quarters.
The two teams would stay close the rest of the way with six lead changes and three ties in the fourth period.
Aller had 17 points and four assists for Faisal Steel, Tolentino scored seven points and 10 rebounds while Manny Avellana and Rey Palcullo totaled 13 points.
Player-coach Ramon Hernandez opted not to play and concentrated coaching his boys to victory.
Millena led all scorers anew with a play-off best 48 points in addition to six rebounds and three assists, Aguilar had 15 points, and Mark Lopez tallied 12, while Don Vergara, Ambat and Bryan Brizo scored 10 points for the Ittifaq Steel.
Meanwhile, in the battle for third place, Metal Recycling Mill Tigers played aggressive basketball to score a 77-64 victory over National Steel-Direct Reduced Iron-Power Plant-Arab Steel Company Steelers.
Paul Gregorio scored a pivotal two triples in the last canto to snap a late rally by the Steelers and build a 69-54 lead with 2:25 remaining.
The Steelers held a 23-17 lead in the first quarter but the two teams tied at 36 at the end of regulation.
The Tigers took a 25-12 run in the third period for a commanding 61-48 advantage but the Steelers narrowed the gap to six points 63-57, before Gregorio’s back-to-back triple gave Tigers the victory.
Dindo Cuesta led the Tigers with a game-high 23 points, Salmey Lumasag added 21, and Gregorio had 15, PJ Madinah and Daniel Alngog chipped in nine and seven points respectively.
RJ Ramos led the Steelers with 22 points, Nick Lorenzo had 14, Joel Avero scored 12 points Bebot Ramientos had 9 and guard Gener Dorotan added 7 points.