JEDDAH: Starved of basketball on a regional level for three years, western region fans trooped to the Rawdah court adjacent to Radisson Blu on Madinah Road and enjoyed the two-day FBL Eid Regional Showdown.
Happily for these highly partisan basketball-crazy OFWs, the trophy did not leave town as the Panino’s Jeddah All Star brought down Dammam-FAEC All Star 81-68 midway through the Eid Al-Adha holidays Wednesday.
Panino’s of managers Ernie Cabauatan and Francis Magat, with Boy Corsega as head coach and Omar “Ninong” Agpalo as assistant coach, and FAEC set up the final match by respectively beating Riyadh 55-52 and Yanbu-Rabigh Selection 83-79 on the first day of the event Tuesday that extended well into the night because of the delayed start.
Riyadh defeated Yanbu-Rabigh 83-79 in the third-place match.
Consul Rodney “RJ” Sumague of the Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah attended the opening day along with the other VIP guests, among them, MA Mateen Khan, sales manager of the event sponsor Hershey’s Company, Mohamed Bayoumi, friend of the Filipino community and recipient of the prestigious Presidential Banaag Award, Joemar Baganian, the WPBL chair who facilitated the Hershey’s sponsorship, and Wilson Maata, friend and supporter of the FBL. Joining them on the second day was another supporter Jimmy Abdullah Beltran. Filsama Basketball League president and commissioner Abdulmoen “Teng” Laguialam welcomed the guests and participants.
A huge Tuesday crowd turned out in anticipation of basketball entertainment dished out in a way only regional stars can. Like Riyadh’s Dandoy in 2013 and a slew of others in regionals past, a player or two emerges to dazzle the crowd. This time it was the diminutive but cat-quick Pangasinan native Christian Neri of Riyadh that hogged the limelight, and who was a thorn in the side of the hosts as he led all scorers with 25 points.
The Jeddah-Riyadh was virtually the event’s championship — a thriller as it were and decided only in the dying seconds when an interception by beanpole Joseph Ubalde resulted in a difficult layup under the basket by Jay Liam.
Christian Guimpatan was at the helm of the Panino’s charge vs. Riyadh with 11 points, while the trio of Ubalde, JR Piedra and Tom Basa each had 8 points.
Roel Asay, a regional veteran, added 14 points, Somera 8 and Morales 7 for Riyadh.
Against FAEC Panino’s had little trouble on the way to victory that gave Corsega another regional crown and a fourth success this year for the Cabauatan-Magat partnership that began with a Filsama 11th Conference championship in January followed by the Intercultural Basketball crown in April and the ISA-Modon tournament recently.
Exploiting the absence of point guard at FAEC, Panino’s was in control all night long, allowing the visitors to come within 42-41 in the second quarter before ripping the game wide open with runs bridging the third and fourth quarters.
From 61-52 to end the third quarter, Panino’s went on a 10-5 tear to lead by 14 points at 71-57 with 5:55 left in the payoff period. FAEC could only bring the deficit down to 9 two times the last at 73-64 before the Panino’s lead ballooned to 13 at 77-64 on an Ubalde fastbreak basket following a steal by point guard Rino Berido, time down to 2:14.
Maguindanao-Maranao overcame an 8-point deficit to win the Bangsamoro exhibition against Tausog who won the first game 84-76 but got well beaten in the return match 81-68 of the two-game series.
Winning the MVP honors were Panino’s Guimpatan and Mag-Mar’s Nanding Unas.
Bayoumi, assisted by Laguialam and Hershey’s Western Region Brand Partner Supervisor Baganian, handed out the prizes during the awards ceremony after the Panino’s-FAEC match Wednesday night.
Happily for these highly partisan basketball-crazy OFWs, the trophy did not leave town as the Panino’s Jeddah All Star brought down Dammam-FAEC All Star 81-68 midway through the Eid Al-Adha holidays Wednesday.
Panino’s of managers Ernie Cabauatan and Francis Magat, with Boy Corsega as head coach and Omar “Ninong” Agpalo as assistant coach, and FAEC set up the final match by respectively beating Riyadh 55-52 and Yanbu-Rabigh Selection 83-79 on the first day of the event Tuesday that extended well into the night because of the delayed start.
Riyadh defeated Yanbu-Rabigh 83-79 in the third-place match.
Consul Rodney “RJ” Sumague of the Philippine Consulate General in Jeddah attended the opening day along with the other VIP guests, among them, MA Mateen Khan, sales manager of the event sponsor Hershey’s Company, Mohamed Bayoumi, friend of the Filipino community and recipient of the prestigious Presidential Banaag Award, Joemar Baganian, the WPBL chair who facilitated the Hershey’s sponsorship, and Wilson Maata, friend and supporter of the FBL. Joining them on the second day was another supporter Jimmy Abdullah Beltran. Filsama Basketball League president and commissioner Abdulmoen “Teng” Laguialam welcomed the guests and participants.
A huge Tuesday crowd turned out in anticipation of basketball entertainment dished out in a way only regional stars can. Like Riyadh’s Dandoy in 2013 and a slew of others in regionals past, a player or two emerges to dazzle the crowd. This time it was the diminutive but cat-quick Pangasinan native Christian Neri of Riyadh that hogged the limelight, and who was a thorn in the side of the hosts as he led all scorers with 25 points.
The Jeddah-Riyadh was virtually the event’s championship — a thriller as it were and decided only in the dying seconds when an interception by beanpole Joseph Ubalde resulted in a difficult layup under the basket by Jay Liam.
Christian Guimpatan was at the helm of the Panino’s charge vs. Riyadh with 11 points, while the trio of Ubalde, JR Piedra and Tom Basa each had 8 points.
Roel Asay, a regional veteran, added 14 points, Somera 8 and Morales 7 for Riyadh.
Against FAEC Panino’s had little trouble on the way to victory that gave Corsega another regional crown and a fourth success this year for the Cabauatan-Magat partnership that began with a Filsama 11th Conference championship in January followed by the Intercultural Basketball crown in April and the ISA-Modon tournament recently.
Exploiting the absence of point guard at FAEC, Panino’s was in control all night long, allowing the visitors to come within 42-41 in the second quarter before ripping the game wide open with runs bridging the third and fourth quarters.
From 61-52 to end the third quarter, Panino’s went on a 10-5 tear to lead by 14 points at 71-57 with 5:55 left in the payoff period. FAEC could only bring the deficit down to 9 two times the last at 73-64 before the Panino’s lead ballooned to 13 at 77-64 on an Ubalde fastbreak basket following a steal by point guard Rino Berido, time down to 2:14.
Maguindanao-Maranao overcame an 8-point deficit to win the Bangsamoro exhibition against Tausog who won the first game 84-76 but got well beaten in the return match 81-68 of the two-game series.
Winning the MVP honors were Panino’s Guimpatan and Mag-Mar’s Nanding Unas.
Bayoumi, assisted by Laguialam and Hershey’s Western Region Brand Partner Supervisor Baganian, handed out the prizes during the awards ceremony after the Panino’s-FAEC match Wednesday night.
