Any lingering doubt about veteran coach Boy “4GS” Corsega ever beating Riyadh, after he fell 0-3 in the TFC Kingdom Cup basketball tournament, disappeared under the weight of his Jeddah Vipers’ sensational 97-87 victory over FAPS Stars last Friday.

The fired-up Vipers played aggressive basketball all game long to totally outplay the visitors much to the delight of basketball fans that filled every available space at the Sheraton Jeddah Sport Complex court.

The victory leveled the best-of-three championship series at 1-1, as the Vipers hurdled a must-win game for the second time to stay alive in the tournament. Two weeks ago they won a knockout semifinal game against Dammam Oilers 84-78 before dropping a 92-89 decision against the Stars in Riyadh the previous week at the start of the title series.

“I exploited the Stars’ weakness against the full court press and they never made adjustments,” said Corsega of his gameplan that finally worked for his first win in four games in the tournament against Riyadh.

After the big win the Vipers, managed by Francis Magat, now have the momentum for the decisive Game 3 back in Riyadh today.

Delegation head Edgar Mendoza said: ” This is the most exciting travel that we have as Jeddah FBA Vipers team is aiming to bring home the champion trophy. We are all excited! Both teams actually deserve to win and we hope that this three months long tournament will end successfully in the spirit of good sportsmanship and in a fair and peaceful manner.”

Riyadh Stars entered the court looking to close out the series with a victory on the road. What they got instead was a sledgehammer hit courtesy of a ruthlessly efficient FBA Vipers.

Mursi Akad scored 22 points with 10 rebounds, 6 assists and 5 steals, Robby David added 19 points and 8 assists and Joseph Ubalde tallied 17 points, 10 rebounds and 6 steals as the Vipers broke away from a back-and-forth first quarter and led by as many as 23 points late in the second period.

The Stars never recovered. That the game was not as lopsided as the final score indicated was only because the Vipers relaxed their grip when they had enjoyed a 19-point lead, 96-77, with only 1:03 on the clock.

The first quarter ended 27-21 that increased to 39-30 for the Vipers who then went on a blistering 20-6 run that gave the hosts a massive 59-36 lead with 32 seconds left in the second period. Ron Magat started the run before the 6-foot-4 Ubalde, thriving in high post plays, followed with a putback to start his own run of 8 points before David contributed a three for 51-34, while Akad and Noy Magat finished it off by hitting the next eight points between them.

The Vipers defense worked wonders, too.

John Rebulado, showing renewed confidence in his game after a bout with a bad knee, was good as advertized by game announcer Willy Cartagena, his hard-nosed defense on James Smith effectively keeping the Riyadh All-Star in check.

Also, the trio of Akad, Noy and Ryan Aguam, who finished with 14 points, alternately clamped down on Riyadh’s peppery guard Raymond Alcasabas, who was limited to 9 points.

Roel Asay shot 31 points for Stars but failed to get enough support from his teammates. Jose Cortez added 22 points, Smith had 11 while Sherwin Garcia contributed 9 points.