JEDDAH: Mohammad Abdelrazik played like a one-man wrecking crew for Egypt Team. But what can one do against a full-strength Pattaya Restaurant team that played smart basketball on the way to a 96-87 victory on Friday at the start of the best-of-three championship series in the 1st Nesma Holding and 2nd Filsama Basketball League Second Conference at the JSA (Jeddah Sports Academy) court.
Pattaya’s Abril Mabarit tossed in 25 points, John Rebulado added 18, Ryan Aguam and Eric Sagala each contributed 14 while Dindo Garces had 12 to negate the 24-point performance by tower of power Abdelrazik who kept Egypt in the game for as long as he can in the second half.
To complete a super Friday for the JSA faithful WRJ Cargo-Carling Sportwear of coach Rene Valle won an overtime thriller against Tubaran 93-89 and set up a title showdown with Jamil Dawood’s Pantar Ikea in the Open Rated C Division. Pantar booked a spot in the best-of-three title playoffs with a 95-88 victory on Thursday over Marawi which prided itself as the only team to beat WRJ thus far.
Tubaran, which dictated the tempo for much of the game, had a chance to win in regulation but Mark Lagria sank only one out of three free throws after being fouled from the three-point zone by Dandy Coronado, forcing a five-minute extension period, 80-80.
Tubaran was never the same during the overtime with Buhat, who led all scorers with 23 points, Galsote and Coronado firing away for WRJ, a joint venture team of Robert Lacsinto and Carling Constantino. Rusty Magpoc scored 16 points, Joven Batuan 14 and Coronado 12 for WRJ. Lagria led Tubaran with 18 points, followed by Jojo Indal 15, Simon Asda 14 and Nuruldin Akimuddin 12.
With a good read of the Egypt game veteran Pattaya coach Boy Corsega easily got his second straight win over the foreign squad in the centerpiece Open Rated Division, using a gameplan that puts premium on defense.
Pattaya sat on a 47-42 lead at the half after Egypt had dominated the first quarter behind 3 three-pointers by Abdelrazik, who hauled down 12 rebounds and got offensive help from team captain Fawzi and Helmi to keep Pattaya at bay in the third quarter.
Mabarit hit a three as Pattaya threatened to pull away at 54-46. But Egypt had an answer each time Pattaya made runs, even briefly taking a 64-62 lead before the period ended 68-65 for Pattaya on Aguam’s basket.
The game was still touch and go at the start of the fourth quarter until Egypt Team began to tire and miss shots to open the door for a big Pattaya finish. From a 71-71 deadlock, Aguam drilled two fastbreak baskets to spark a Pattaya rally which Yaser and Abelrazek countered that brought the score to 79-77, time down to 4:57.
A set shot from beyond the arc by Eric Mabarit triggered another Pattaya run, that featured sallies by Garces and Rebulado, to put the game away 92-79 going into the last two minutes.
Fawzi finished with 21 points for Egypt, which missed the services of Fadi, while Hani tallied 12 and Yasser 10. Friendster and Islamia will face off in the Inter-Company final after respectively beating United Group 75-64 an abarkads 75-74, while IMC downed Al Noor 76-68 in the knockout game for third and fourth in the Inter-Hospital category of this event organized by Filipino Association of Salesmen and Merchandisers and sponsored by Nesma Holding.
Games Thursday: (Championship Game 1) 5 p.m — Friendster vs. Islamia 6:45 p.m — Bakhs vs. UDH 8:30 p.m. — Marawi vs. Tubaran (Third place) 10:15 p.m. — Pantar Ikea vs. WJR Carling Sports
Games Friday: (Championship Game 2) 5 p.m. — Friendster vs. Islamia 6:45 p.m. — Bakhs vs. UDH 8:30 p.m. — Pantar Ikea vs. WRJ 10:15 p.m. — Pattaya Restaurant vs. Egypt Team
