Nesma, Okaz champions in 3rd OFBL Friday Morning league

An impressive 83% free-throw shooting performance it was for Nesma, converting 34 out of 41 attempts overall including 24 in the fourth quarter as its rival strived to gradually cut its commanding lead with quick points while challenging its proficiency in the charity stripe. Nesma never failed to disappoint them, concluding the game in a 97-88 victory for a sweep of the best-of-three finals against Dabarkadz to capture the OFBL 3rd Conference Friday Morning Non Rated Division title at Timeout Sports Academy Gymnasium on Television St., Ghulail District on the outskirts of Jeddah.
Both teams ended the second quarter tied at 38-38. But Nesma started the third quarter with 12-5 run orchestrated by their point guard Callueng who hurt Dabarkadz for he enjoyed having unchallenged shots from the Castillo-focused defense applied by Dabarkadz, draining two consecutive 3-pointers and completing a drive to the basket plus a foul to break away at 50-43.
Dabarkadz tried to narrow the gap to 47-50. But Nesma pulled away with 14-4 run to end the third quarter up by 13 points, 64-51. Then Nesma increased its advantage to as much as 19 points early in the fourth quarter.
Dabarkadz refused to end their championship campaign without a fight, cutting down Nesma’s lead, and got as close as 6 points in the dying seconds of the game, using a quick foul after a quick shot scheme.
But Nesma stood its ground and was just almost flawlesss from the free-throw line, converting 13 points out 16 attempts in the last 3 minutes of the game to pull out the win.
Callueng had a stellar performance, hitting a game-high 30 points including 4 3-pointers to lead the way for Nesma. Castillo also had a good game despite the tough defense assigned to him and finished on 24 points. Dela Cruz added 17 points Manlangit 16 and Tolentino 8 points.
Mangalindan spearheaded the losing team with 28 points, followed by J. Cruz with 23 points, Meru and Ramirez both had 9 points, Verzosa 8 and Oliver Reyes 5 points.
In the other Friday Morning championship game, Okaz showed its wealth experience in the 81-72 triumph over Toyota that gave it a sweep of the Rated C Division championship series.
Down by 4 points at the end of the first quarter, Okaz launched a second quarter run, ignited by the ever reliable Jay Liam, who scored 14 points, including 2 3-pointers in the period, as they outscored Toyota 27-9 to wrap up the halftime at 49-35.
But in the third period, the tandem of Dorado and Paul Taguba cut Okaz lead to 5 points by the end of the period. Yet again, Okaz stretched its lead to double digits in the middle of the fourth quarter, using a slowbreak offense while playing tough on defense to protect the lead.
Liam top-scored for the champion team with 29 points. Mark Lagria contributed 14 points, Baluyot had 11, Balagtas 8, Baniel and Mabarit each had 7 and De Leon contributed 5 points. Dorado led Toyota with 22 points, followed by Taguba with 19, Delacruz 10 points and Arana 6 .
Meanwhile, Firewind had led Solid North in each of the 4 quarters, playing solid basketball all throughout the match to clinch the third palce in the Rated C Division.
The trio of Estrella, Patrick Reyes and Oliver Reyes who had 21, 20 and 19 respectively, combined well to carry their team’s offense. They were helped out by Yusop who had 14 points, Dayrit with 12 and Fajardo 8. Viscayno had 14 points, Ramos 12 , Bong 11 and Ostonal 10 for the losing team.

The awarding ceremony for the Friday Morning Games Division will be held next Friday, right after the parade of teams in the OFBL Friday Morning Games 4th Conference.