JEDDAH: Nexus teams enjoyed another weekend double with the Category B team overwhelming Nesma 101-89 for its third straight victory and first round sweep of the eliminations during Week 9 in the FBA (Filipino Basketball Association) 37th Season at the Sheraton Jeddah Hotel Sport Complex basketball court here.

The week also featured a strong Category B match between KIA and Tamimi-Petro Rabigh where KIA avenged its first round defeat via an 88-70 victory in the second game Friday in which Mark Lagria played one of his best games in a long time.

The lefty Lagria hit 11 of his top-scoring 25 in the last two quarters and sparked a KIA breakaway in the fourth quarter to become the Best Player of the game. Painitan added 17 points and Rey Razon had 10 for KIA.

The result left KIA and Tamimi, which drew 14 points from Napiza, 13 from Alcantara and 11 from Villegas, tied at 2-2 behind Nexus, as both teams opened their second round eliminations.

Lisztian Amparado scored night-high 33 points, Jimboy Pascual tossed in 33 and Berido added 21 as Nexus dismantled winless Nesma right off the bat to win pulling away. Dulla 24, Calueng 18 and Tilo 15 were the leading scorers at Nesma.

Like its sister team in Category B on Thursday, Nexus B opened the Friday five-game schedule and completed a double by beating ALJ-CDC 67-56 in Category D Pool 3.

It was the fourth straight win for Nexus B, which collected 15 points from Flores, 14 from Best Player Trajano and 10 points from Renan Buhano. Quibin led the ALJ losing cause on 12 points followed by Alberto 10 and Hayudini 8.

Saudi Diyar recovered mightily from a poor first quarter with measly 9 points to roll back 3Pol Ace in the fourth game Friday 73-64. The victory, its third in four games, strengthened Diyar’s hold on second place in Category D Pool 1 where idle Uncle Majid Rice & Toppings sit at the top of the standings on 3-0.

Hitting its stride to pour in 22 points in the second quarter, Saudi Diyar tallied a further 18 and 24 points in the last two quarters to get the win with Misa, on 18 points, claiming Best Player honors. Carbonell top-scored for Saudi Diyar on 20 points while De Leon had 13.

In a pair of Category C matches, Al Mabani downed Pinoy Expatriate.Com 78-65 and DBarkadz Pilipinas trounced Twitch Mobile 83-68. Olive-Handco defeated Atlas Copco 53-51 in a low-scoring D Pool 2 game.

Best Player Guci spearheaded the Mabini offensive on 16 points, while Manalac and Buenaventura added 14 and 12 points. Mabini improved to 3-1 at second place in the team standings.

Dbarkadz got 24 points from Dedaze, 11 from Mendoza and 10 from Tabag in scoring their first victory in two games.

Meantime, FBA CEO and president Edgar Mendoza issued strong warning to delinquent teams to settle their entry fee obligations under pain of suspension of their games. These teams specially company teams will receive demand letters in due course to have their fees paid in full as per the league rules and regulations and to protect the interest of the FBA, according to Mendoza who rued that there are teams that unashamedly did games without any payment. Also, Mendoza urged the teams’ cooperation to ensure the smooth running of the tournament.