JEDDAH: Sponsor team Perfetto stayed perfect in four games in Reinforced Group A after an 85-71 victory over Corinthians as did Salem Husni in Inter-Company Bonafide Group A in the ISA-Modon Basketball Tournament 2016 at the Industrial City Plaza basketball court on the outskirts of Jeddah.

Salem Husni matched Perfetto’s 4-0 record with a 59-36 triumph over Arabian Chemical in the first game Friday, keying its win behind scoring runs in each of the four quarters. All but two of 16 players fielded by Husni contributed with Layug leading the way with 9 points.

Both the Inter-Company A and Reinforced Group A have 7 teams and Salem and Perfetto are two wins away from completing the eliminations unbeaten for a twice to beat privilege in the semifinals.

Perfetto once again proved that the No. 1 spot is so far meant for them as they defeated Corinthians 85-71. Good ball and player rotation enabled the team to outscore the opponent during the last period and claim a hard-fought win. Best Player Emjay Malabanan and Pasco worked on the inside and Husain on the outside, while Mhy towered in the rebound category.

Syriana-IKK, playing a lot better than the last outing, handed Combibo its first defeat in three games with a 79-71 victory in their match that was the Thursday’s headliner.

Using its size and aggressive game, Syriana broke open a tight game late in the third quarter to win its second straight in the centerpiece Strong Division as Wabel Dandashi, Rafi and Abdulkareem scored 16, 14 and 12 points in that order.

Syriana opened a 70-59 lead with 3 minutes to play in the game watched by a large Thursday crowd that thronged the Modon court and the Arab team had an answer to every Combibo sniping initiated by Jay Liam.

In a battle of winless teams in Inter-Company B, Saudi Amana lost a heart-breaking decision at the buzzer falling 64-62 to Finetool in the third game Friday.

Despite the effort of Amana’s Sycangco in the 3rd quarter, Finetool managed to recover in the payoff period to score its first win in four attempts thanks to Carvajal with 19 and the duo of Espiritu and Barruga who contributed with combined 25 points.

The weekend staple was completed by another Strong Division match in Friday’s nightcap where Egyptian Community Team ran roughshod over a hapless Hoopers squad 63-34 in the first game for both teams.

Zain scored 14 points, Fadi Tawil had 10, three-point specialist Fawzi added 9 and Hamdy and Abdul Said 8 points apiece for Egyptian side, which led by 12 points, 33-18, at the 5-minute mark in the third quarter.

Elsewhere, GEEC-Fuji won a thrilling game against AGM 59-58 in Inter-Company A; Buddy whipped Hempel Paints 81-64 in Mixed Dvision Group A and BRC beat Al Hurafi 53-43 in Inter-Company A.

GEEC-Fuji was caught flat-footed by the surprising AGM which dragged them in a heart-stopping endgame battle that saw players from both sides dive for loose balls and knock each other off around the court. Parinia was Best Player of the game. — With input from Alot Villafuerte