Zamil Industrial, Zamil Group set up Inter-Company A title clash

In one of the league’s major upsets, the Zamil Industrial of Meng Natividad used a fourth quarter run to defeat the injury-saddled Arabian Point Eight Power Co. Ltd. (APEP) of Team Manager Lhito Bautista 94-92 in a pulsating game Friday in the 15th UFBF Basketball Tournament at Al Qadisia gymnasium.
The win set Zamil Industrial up against Zamil Group in the finals of Inter-company A title. Zamil Group earlier beat Rawabi Holdings 97-79 in another semifinal match.
Bong Libramonte’s long-game brilliance kept Zamil Industrial in the game throughout the last two quarters scoring 13 points each quarter to finish with 37 points. Albert Patdu played a steadier game and added 16 markers while four other starters – Rey Manalo, Wilson Paez, Patrick Hermosura and Sherwin Margalo combined for 23 points.
APEP led the first two quarters at 19-17 and 45-43 even without its star player James Chua (sprained ankle) in the previous game but returned to play late in the fourth quarter with limited mobility.
Making up for his absense in the first three periods were ace guard Ceasar Java, center Arnold Arguelles, Ricardo Sotto and Ibrahim Naif who keyed an 8-1 run midway of the second quarter to build an 11 point lead, 64-53, 4:19 minutes left.
But things turned sour for APEP when Java injured his left foot and Arguelles committed his 4th personal foul less than a minute to play in the third quarter. Zamil finally pulled even when Libramonte drained two penalty shots and Patdu completed a steal and knotted the game at 68-68 going into the last quarter.
With APEP in foul trouble and two more players injured, Libramonte kept attacking the baskets to keep Zamil in the lead. With 45:5 seconds left in the final quarter, Libramonte sank two penalty shots off Chua’s foul for a 92-88 lead. With a precarious two-point deficit 92-94 in the dying seconds, APEP’s Naif potential game clinching three-pointer landed short as the buzzer sounded. APEP dedicated the game in tribute to its coach, Marzon Morante, who died of heart attack one week ago.
Centerpoint survived an end game battle against Hummer to claim an 87-83 victory and a place in the finals against Cyber Dudes 2 who beat the No. 1 team, Rashed Good Year 90-55 in a lopsided game. Ryan Domingo led the pack with 28 points and was ably backed by Gonzales with 16 markers, Ruel Naz 10, Joemar Escutin 7, Joliber Reyes 6 and Fausto Tuscano 5 points.
Centerpoint jumped on Hummer to grab an 18-16 lead after the first 10 minutes and even played better in the second quarter to go up by 7, 43-36, at the turn. But Hummer regrouped with Brian Rosales, Win Mangulabnan and Joseph Paguia stepping up to score successive baskets to take the lead back 65-58 to end the third quarter. However, Centerpoint’s five were able to bring the Hummer lead down to two points, 78-76, after an Escutin’s drive and a triple from Domingo at the 2:30 mark of the fourth.
BEWA Mixers mounted an improbable run and brought down depleted Khobar Warriors 119-92 to set up a championship match against former champion Clippers in Junior D-3 higher category.
Khobar Warriors enjoyed a twice-to-beat edge in the semifinals after going undefeated in the eliminations but had to deal with the Mixers’ all-around game and finally blown away in their second outing with a 111-119 setback same day.
Clippers beat Al Mouwasat, 108-102, in another semifinals encounter. Joey Navarro, Jerome Lazaro and Eric Tanduyan each had an identical 19 points, Mark Vergara and Win Mangulabnan added 13 points each while Jun Moneva scored all his 12 points from beyond the arc.