JEDDAH: Powerhouse Abna Marantao lost a perfect record but not its place in final opposite Zenith Arabia in the Open Skilled Division of the Western Union Basketball League 2009-11th WPBL Conference at the Ahmed Kaki Sport Complex basketball court on Thalia Street here.
Marantao dropped to 4-2 in a tie with Zenith after taking defeats in successive fashion from Zenith 73-72 and Egypt Team 106-98 at the weekend as the tournament winds down to its last few weeks.
ELS Park Ballers provided a sneak preview of their knockout battle for third with Egypt with a 73-68 victory in their match on Thursday.
The Developmental Division semifinals was set with Friendster edging out Al Muhaidib 98-95 in the battle of the unbeatens. The victory gave Friendster a perfect 7-0 win-loss slate and a twice to beat privilege over fourth semifinalist Lotus-Dizer when the two teams clash in the semifinals on Thursday.
Muhaidib, at No. 2 with a 6-1 record, takes on GAC, which finished third on 5-2.
The trio of Bryan Adaya, Dandy Coronado and Marmi Batilan led Friendster with 27, 18 and 16 points in that order.
Meantime, Newtek-EM-LLC avoided a winless participation at a WPBL-organized event when it brought down Facebook 87-86 in a Developmental Division game on Thursday.
SBG-Premco, the defending Inter-Company champion, and Al Majal take their unbeaten 6-0 and 4-0 records into the quarterfinals against Al Jomaih Heavy Equipment and Pizza Hut, which will both need to win twice to advance to the semifinals. Al Jomaih beat out Zahid Tractor for a spot in the last eight by winning their match 99-55 on Friday. The other quarterfinal games send King Fahd Armed Forces Hospital against Hyundai Naghhi and Panda Hyper against Hilton Hotel.
The Inter-Maguindanao Division is also set for the semifinals. It will be ALJ Realty X-Rulz against Maha Phoenix and Pantar against Davao Kalagan. — With input from Rams Gunao
Games today
5:20 p.m. — Al Majal vs. Pizza Hut 6:50 p.m. — Hilton Hotel vs. Panda Hyper 8:20 p.m. — Lotus-Dizer vs Friendster 9:50 p.m. — Davao Kalagan vs. Pantar
Games tomorrow
5 p.m. — Al Jomaih vs. SBG Premco 6:30 p.m. — Hyundai Naghi vs. KFAH 8 p.m. — GAC vs. Al-Muhaidib 9:30 p.m. – Maha Phoenix vs. ALJ Realty X-Rulz
