JEDDAH: RJW Juf Wed Group of Ric Santos and Jose Cepeda beat Desert Warriors 95-90 to claim the championship crown for the 40 & above division in the PEAK-JBL basketball tournament at ALBAIK court in Khalidia District here.

It was a close ball game up to 3rd quarter. Coach Jhun Pantaleon ordered run-and -gun offense to break the defense of Desert Warriors in the final quarter. Jameel Khobre and Padilla scored 21 points apiece for RJW Juf Wed Group and were adjudged as PEAK Sodas Sports best players of the game while Cainilla top-scored with 25 points for Desert Warriors.

This tournament is principally sponsored by PEAK Sodas Sports and Shoe Arena. The co-sponsors are Mandhoubiyah Islamic Propagation Office, Jeddah Dawah Center, Deepvision Advertising Company (Wil Escanan), Mousa Ignacio and Arab News.

NRF of coach Gerry Acosta defeated Manila Zago 117-109 for the Group A championship. Manila Zago had led in the first half of the game. NRF went to their main man Ali who attacked the basket to give his team the lead in the final quarter. Ali scored 46 points for NRF and was adjudged as JBL best player of the game. Samson had 27 points for Manila Zago.

Khalidia Tambayz of coach Ronnie Carino beat Avengers 104-100 for the Group B championship trophy. Khalidia Tambayz played their offense well up to the third quarter. Avengers regrouped and took the lead with only less the 2 minutes remaining. Coach Ronnie immediately called for a timeout and gave his last instruction to pave the way for his back-to-back JBL titles. Calaunan chipped in 28 points for Khalidia Tambayz and was adjudged as PEAK Sodas Sports best player of the game. Geniza scored 28 points for Avengers.

Awardees in the 40 and above Division: RJW Jufalli Wed Group Champion, Desert Warriors 1st Runner-up, Manila Hotdog 2nd Runner up and Khalidia Knights 3rd Runner-up; mythical five Alvarado – Khalidia Knights, Caberte – RJW Juf Wed Group, Creencia – Manila Hotdogs, Migz Diaz – RJW Juf Wed Group and Hermogenes – Desert Warriors; Jhun Pantaleon (RJW Jufalli Wed Group) Best Coach, Jameel Khobre (RJW Jufalli Wed Group) Most Valuable Player (MVP).

Awardees in the Non-rated Group A Division: NRF Champion, Manila Zago: 1st Runner-up, IKEA: 2nd Runner up and Magma Bloods: 3rd Runner-up; mythical five Garcia– IKEA, Navarro – Manila Zago, Gandaruza – Magma Bloods, Pugoy – NRF and King Acosta – NRF; Gerry Acosta (NRF) Best Coach, Ali (NRF) MVP.

The awardees in the Non-rated Group B Division are Khalidia Tambayz: Champion, Avengers: 1st Runner-up, Knights: 2nd Runner up and Tropang Bakhs: 3rd Runner-up. The elite mythical five Ballinan – Tropang Bakhs, David – Knights, Geniza – Avengers, Butt – Khalidia Tambayz and Calaunan – Khalidia Tambayz. Ronnie Carino – Khalidia Tambayz was awarded as the Best Coach while Garcia – Khalidia Tambayz was adjudged as the Most Valuable Player (MVP).

Meanwhile, Fame Gensoul Basketball Club opened its 3rd season basketball tournament that attracted 20 teams which paraded in their resplendent uniforms during the opening ceremony. Coach Sam Sabangan, Edwin Gonzales and Joel Silvestre hosted the ceremony.

Midgets Blue beat Midgets Red 23-20. Aldrin Joe Francisco had 9 points for Blue and was adjudged as Gensoul player of the game. Angelo Asmiralde led Red with 14 points.

Juniors Yellow of coach Raffy David defeated Juniors Blue of coach Ernel Paner 52-5. King Acosta top –scored with 36 points for Yellow Team and was adjudged as Gensoul player of the game. Rayan Manalundong had 16 points for Blue Team.

Seniors Black of coach Sam Sabangan beat Seniors Blue of Coach Alex Musngi 75-66 in overtime. Alberto Aguirre scored 23 points for Black and was adjudged as the Gensoul player of the game. Raffy David chipped in 28 points for Blue.