Ritz Carlton ended Sheraton Riyadh’s six-game winning streak with an 81-80 victory in overtime in their down-the-wire Inter-Hotels matchup.

The tussle was close from start to finish in which Ritz Carlton boys anchored by Chowking Yee, Clarkton Browly and Joselito Dela Paz dominated the first and second quarters 21-16 and 36-35.

Sheraton boys took over the 3rd quarter 59-55 led by Ziyao Soro supported by Jay-R de Guzman, Marvin Delos Reyes, ball handler Tiny Concepcion, Joseph Abad and high leaping rebounder Erano Campo, who had 28 rebounds, 9 points and 8 assists in an efficient display for Sheraton.

Ritz Carlton was leading at 74-71 with .08 seconds in the regulation period when Sheraton’s Soro released the buzzer beater from beyond the arc to tie the game at 74 and force overtime.

On resumption of the game, both teams applied a stiff defense and offense and the turning point came in another dying seconds at 18.8 and the score 81-79 to Ritz Carlton when Campo picked up a foul and split his charities. Campo could have sent the game to overtime had he converted both free throws. Instead Ritz Carlton grabbed the defensive rebound to preserve the victory 81-80.

The match between Al Faisaliah Hotel coached by Noli Ramos and Riyadh Marriott under the guidance of Edwin Turbanos was played on purely on sportsmanship basis with Marriott missing the veteram Ed Manansala and playing with only 8 players. On the part of Al Faisaliah, the diminutive Archie Zabala scored a game-high 33 points to go with 3 steals and 3 assists in his team’s 72-66 triumph

In the Inter-Company Non-Rated, defending champion Kudu completed its elimination round with a 4-2 record following a 115-51 lopsided victory against Zahran team and assured itself of a slot in the semifinals.

Almarai of Mike Alarcon and Athnony Esguerra failed to stop Barkadahan Disers who won their sixth straight, 94-87.

Although Almarai lost its last match the team still qualified for the semis with Western Union Enjaz to complete the four-team semifinal cast of the 3rd Kudu Challenge Cup for the Inter-Company Non Rated.

In other Inter-Hotels games, Riyadh Marriott tasted its first victory against Four Points by Sheraton Riyadh Khalidia 82-60 with Izie Agapay scoring 24 points and Dudds Attip Allykhan contributing 13.

InterCon won against Riyadh Marriott 74-67 and Sheraton Riyadh stopped Courtyard Marriott to secure the first two semifinal berths. Sheraton qualified first with a 6-1 card and InterCon second with 5-2.

The 3rd and 4th spots will be known by next week in the remaining matches of Al Faisaliah, Ritz Carlton and Courtyard Marriott and Riyadh Marriott.

This 2-in-1 tournament features the 3rd Kudu Challenge Cup for Inter-Company Non-Rated and the 26th Annual Riyadh Inter-Hotels Basketball Tournament 2013. The tournament for the benefit of the children of UNICEF enjoys the generous support GM Paul C. Dunphy with the general managers of participating hotels and companies particularly the following sponsors who pledged support: Wael Maatouk of Ritz Carlton Hotel, Mostafa Hamadeh of Kudu, Andy F. Santos and Roland Cinco of China Banking-M. LHuiller, and Randy Assistin of Sizzler House.