JEDDAH, 7 December — Saudi Diyar and Zagzoog Appliances moved out of the gutter as they chalked up their first wins in convincing fashion even as erstwhile undefeated Bentley’s Tea got their first taste of bitter at the hands of Goody while Fujitec downed Royal Blood, 75-72, in a battle royale of four undefeated teams at the halfway bend of sparkling cage actions at the ALJ-Rehab.
In other games, Toyota Echo joined Toyota Camry atop the heap of the ALJ interdivision with their third straight victory besting Toyota Lexus, 75-62, while Toyota Corolla bounced back from a one-point loss the previous week posting a replicate one-point victory, 84-83, against Toyota Avalon. Sadafco showed with a complete line-up and out slugged previously unbeaten Zuhair Fayez, 71-58. Zahid Tractor ended a two-game-losing skein with a vibrant victory over KUDU Food masters, 82-66.
Coach Jemwel Del Rosario relied on the duo of Manila and Salcedo who hit 22 and 17 respectively in towing the Consultants to a dozen-point win while Leal led ALJ-Hospital with 23. Zagzoog (Whirlpool) Appliances relied on veteran Bobby Dagdag who shared scoring high of 21 with teammate Fernandez. Del Prado added 17 while D’Styrkers were buoyed up by Garcia and Castres who provided double-digit scores of 19 and 17
Goody (Basamh Trading) under team manager Erick Abrantes and coordinator Emilio Bascos Jr. showed everyone that Bentley’s Tea (Al-Naghi) is not at all invincible pounding the latter to the tune of 95-85 behind Roland Centeno’s 39 points and a combined 35-point output from the trio of Dela Vega, Faqihi and Duque. John Tato added 8 points but proved to be the monumental headache for Aldine Mina and coach Chris Pablo’s Bentley’s Tea as his relentless hustle and stingy defense was big factor in the payoff period.
Bentley’s Tea had a 61-60 edge at the end of the third but suffered a big blow with the graduation of Reyes. In the absence of Reyes, Goody chipped away at the points like munching crunchy potatoes, outscoring the tea makers, 35-24, in the fourth. Aaron Mayo and Reyes (20 points each), Pakkie and Bautista (10 points each) tried their best to avoid defeat that was long time in coming for Al-Naghi squad but faced with a determined and undeniably a very strong team in Goody, felt the sting of missing the services of their ace playmaker Nap Solis, on a December furlough. As a result, Goody is at sole number one spot in Group A with a 4-0 card the same card shared by Group B co-leaders Fujitec and Shartbatly. Fujitec’s Jong Rapada was again irrepressible as he almost singe-handedly carried the brunt for the elevator specialists topscoring for 31 points. Royal Blood gave them a run for their money and could have reversed the outcome of the game if not for the numerous fumbles and erratic plays they committed in the crucial stretches of the fourth. Ampoloquio and Rolloda led the losers with 19 and 16.
