DAMMAM, 26 April — The National Pipe Company of Dhahran gave their championship hopes a big boost after beating AYTB of Jubail, 87-78, in the premier category of the prestigious Eastern Province Basketball League’s 2002 Open Conference at the Al-Nahda Club gymnasium in Dammam.
“We’re taking it one game at a time”, said the ecstatic coach Dante Del Valle when asked if they can continue their surprising run into the finals. “If the boys continue to play like what they’re doing at the moment we can probably bring everything home.”
The pipemkers gained a twice-to-beat advantage in the semis after finishing the elimination at second place behind powerhouse Sigma Paints.
The formidable duo of Haleem Al-Nasser and Anthony Nabong finished with 12 points apiece while taking control of the boards combining for 25 caroms while the sweet-shooting Murhaf Abdul Mohsin topped all scorers with 27.
After a slow start and falling behind at 0-6, Mohsin’s scoring guns started to get ablaze as he teamed up with Nabong to battle the Jubail squad toe-to-toe and level the count at 10-all.
While Baggay remained gun-shy, Edgard Bucalin directed the plays for NPC and Ramesh Ordan picked up the scoring cudgels toward the end of the second period closing the half with a 35-33 lead.
With Al-Nasser and Nabong manning the paint and bull-strong Romwell Lampitoc banging bodies with AYTB’s Gilbert Biantan, Baggay suddenly found his shooting touch in the third period drilling two successive treys to ignite an 11-2 blitz giving the Japanese franchise its biggest lead at 67-57 after 30 minutes of play.
AYTB momentarily heaved a sigh of relief in the final canto when Cyril Agudo sank his fourth triple after Nabong fouled out with over 6 minutes left and NPC ahead by 14, 78-64.
As Bucalin took his turn to the showers at the 3-minute mark and Fahd Al-Rahdi’s long trey made it 78-72, Ronald Maranga scored on a reverse lay-up and Al-Nasser’s put back of Mohsin’s miss assured the victory for the resurgent Pipe Makers.
As time ticks away, Agudo, Al-Rahdi and Mon Hernandez attempted several treys to bring back AYTB into contention but their shots failed to light up the scoreboard.
“They beat us badly inside the paint”, said Agudo referring to the absence of ace slotman Yassar Mou. “We gave everything we got even with a depleted line-up but they just ran us down.” “This is not the same team we’ve beaten in the past.”
Truly enough, the NPC five has metamorphosed from whipping boys to a giant-killer.
In League B, Saudi Ready Mix and Surigao Warrior dispatched their respective opponents to arrange a rubber match for the right to face Tibay 3 in the best-of-three finals.
Rolly Bisda led the Mixers with 32 points while Francis David added 15 in ousting the depleted Zahid Tractor-Volvo squad, 83-75.
“We tried everything we can to pull an upset”, said Zahid manager Marwan Azraq. “With four of our starters gone we knew that odds are against us”.
With the loss, Zahid went down to a tie with Wescosa at fifth place. On the other hand, the Warriors got into a tie for second place with the Mixers after giving Jotun Corrocoat the ax via a 93-78 decision in this tournament jointly sponsored by LBC Makati Express and Phuket Restaurant.
Ronnie Ocado topped all scorers with a personal best 29 points behind a 5-of-8 shooting from the arc while Glen Abrantes and Jay Mallari paced Jotun with 22 and 18 points. Erstwhile Jotun scoring leader Bong Palad suffered another lackluster performance finishing with a measly 8 markers.
“He (Palad) is on a slump at the moment. He can never recover from it unless he’s gonna focus on his game and not the refs”, said a Jotun insider.
Al-Turki Corporation (ATCO) formally entered the best-of-three finals against Hempel Paints after completing a 73-61 victory over the fighting Lummus Alireza squad.
