JEDDAH: Suddenly, Uncle Majid-Panino’s is looking at a possible 8-game title sweep. This after Francis Magat’s charges brought down Friendster-New Cabalen Restaurant 94-91 for a sweep of the double round robin Open Rated B Reinforced Division in the 1st Orient Watch Cup and 11th Filsama Basketball League Conference at Star Clubs Gymnasium in Faisaliyah District here.

Rey Razon top-scored with 34 points and was named Best Player of the game for the third time while leading Uncle Majid to its sixth straight victory.

Mursie Akad tallied 17 points and Joseph Ubalde had 16 for Uncle Majid, which pulled away from a 57-all tie early in the third quarter behind a 17-9 attack for a 74-68 lead at the end of the period and in which Razon scored 7 points.

Uncle Majid though never seriously threatened after that saw its 88-81 lead with 2:47 to play dwindle to 88-85. But a thee-point attempt by Montejo that missed the mark along with turnovers and two free throws by Ubalde off Nemitz Dangao in the dying seconds took the pressure off the Uncle Majid 90-85.

Despite the defeat Cris Melebo’s Open Rated team still has a chance to play Uncle Majid in the finals, a two-game series affair. To get there it has to beat Jeddah Guards of Hassan Zeineddein by 8 points or more. Guards defeated Friendster by 7 points in the first round.

The Week 8 ended 1-2 for Melebo’s teams after his Non-Rated squad lost its twice to beat edge in the semifinals when it went down Thursday against the young Dabarkads squad 90-86.

Luna and Ricasa proved the 1-2 punch for Dabarkads with 16 and 17 points, while Romero added 14 points. For Friendster, Razon led the way with 17 points, Villegas had 16 and Alarcon 9 points.

Friendster and Dabarkads face each other again in a knockout game with the winner to meet Pinky’z in the championship game. Pinky’z hurdled a tough match Thursday against Wasalak 105-104 on free throws by Butch Maulana.

With Pinky’z in ball possession and Wasalak up by a point with few seconds left in the game, Maulana was fouled as the buzzer sounded, sending him to the free-throw line. A veteran player that he is, Maulana cooly made both free throws to send his team to the final, capping a 26-point performance. Marcelo contributed 21, Distreza 14 and Fuentes 10 for Pinky’z. Navarro and Ismael each shot 27 points and Ali added 18 for Wasalak.

Friendster avoided a shutout when its Above 40 team defeated Rabea Tea 91-74 to be the No. 1 semifinalist with a twice to beat privilege in the division.

Friendster is expected to win against No. 4 Airnet Sume that will pave the way for a championship clash against Philcon E-Life Generals who dusted off Rabea Tea 90-79 in the semis game between teams No. 2 and No. 3.

Upaw Macarmban top-socred for PhilCon on 27 points, while Joven Batuhan and Dimalig each added 16 points.

Tournament major sponsor is Orient Watch -Al Husseini & Al Yahyah Investment Group. The other league backers are Western Union, LBC Cargo Hari ng Padala, Cruzado Perfume and Virgin Mobile.