Shadow Lounge, Team Pilipinas triumph in ISA PHL Independence Day event

Shadow Lounge-Code Red cashed in on the opportunity to gain some measure of revenge on Samco, winning the featured game against an ISA Selection 79-75 with a nucleus of Samco players and a smattering of Friendster standouts in the PHL Independence Day exhibition games organized recently by the Industrial Sports Association at the ICDO (Industrial City Dawa Office) court in Industrial city Phase 1 on the outskirts of Jeddah.
Shadow Lounge took control of a back-and-forth game in the second half with a bodacious interior defense built around the triple towers of Salman, Freddie and de Joya.
Coached by Gary Santos and managed by Francis Magat, Shadow Lounge took its first big lead of 10 points midway in the third quarter. They never looked back after that though the team needed a critical basket in the lane by their star point guard Robby David and free throws by Salman, David and Mursi Akad to put away the victory, after ISA cut Shadow’s 11-point lead, 72-61, at the two-minute mark to four points.
Samco’s Boyet Bautista had a tough time against Shadow defenders but still finished with 23 points, while Samco’s Joseph Ubalde and Mark Basa of Friendster each had 11 points for Gerry Arcilla’s ISA Selection.
It was the third victory with three different teams for Santos in ISA-organized exhibition events. Also, the win was a confidence boost for Shadow and Santos who lost three straight games against Samco coming into the match.
David was named MVP of the one-off trophy game. He finished the night with 14 points, Salman had 17 while Akad, showing a lot of energy despite his double duty with two teams, top-scored with 18 points.
The awarding ceremony followed the Shadow-ISA game with Mohamed Bayoumi, a good friend of the Filipino community and recipient of the Presidential Banaag Award, handing over prizes to the winners.
In another trophy game Team Pilipinas defeated an American team from Raytheon 79-74.
Merica exploded with 18 points in the first quarter alone and finished 39 big points for the Americans but Friendster’s Mark Basa and Akad kept the points coming for Pilipinas in the final quarter to pull off the victory for Pilipinas.
Basketball Referees Group (BRG) also joined the fun event, beating the ISA Committee 71-64.
The scores:
Pilipinas (79) Basa 19, Akad 18, Junsay 8, Liam 8, Dangao 7, Greason 7, Guanzon 6, Pasco 4, Cruz 2
Raytheon (74) Merica 39, Strong 11, Hernandez 7, Ford 6, Beiber 6, Valentine 5
Shadow Lounge (79) Akad 18, Salman 17, David 14, Freddie 11, Bulacan 10, Magat 7, Acmad 2, Magat 2
ISA Selection (75) Bautista 23, Ubalde 11, Basa 11, Reyes 7, Adaya 7, Matias 6, Guimpatan 5, Liam 2, Yutoc 2, Elamparo 1