Saturday, January 14, 2006
Ozamiz nips Spring Oil
PAGADIAN CITY -- The reigning national champion Ozamiz Cotta shrugged off a slow start as it came from 18 points down to nip Spring Cooking Oil, 79-78, Thursday in the Mayor Sammy Co Open Invitational Basketball Tournament at the packed city gym here.
Veteran Billy Bansil scored Ozamiz's last six points including the game winning free throws with two seconds left to tie idle Tribu Sugbu (1-0) for the lead in their bracket.
Cooking Oil Masters of NBC President Nathaniel "Tac" Padilla led by as much as 18 points in the third quarter only to collapse in the payoff period.
Spitfire playmaker Bob Cozy Ilanga scored 10 of his 11 points in a stirring Ozamiz rally as they took the lead for the first time, 58-57, in the game.
Spring rallied back to gain the lead, 77-73, less than two minutes remaining until Bansil caught fire to give the win to the Cotta Shrine team of Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog.
In the other exciting game, expansion team Pagadian Explorers were held scoreless in the final 5:16 of the contest but still held on to a nail-biting 75-74 win over Mayor Jose Galario Jr.'s Valencia Golden Harvest.
Ex-pro Bong Marata and Ping Daja sizzled hot at the onset of the fourth quarter as they built a comfortable 75-65 lead coming back from as much as a 12-point deficit early in the contest.
The Golden Harvest staged a big run reminiscent of its come-from-behind 70-67 win over Tribu Sugbu in the Valencia leg.
Julius Navales, 2004 NBC Find of the Year, carried Valencia on his back and almost single-handedly brought his team to victory.
Navales's last basket with 1:41 cuts the deficit to just a solitary point, 75-74, but both teams traded with missed attempts.
Valencia had a golden chance to steal the game from Mayor Sammy Co's Explorers but center Nat Cruz missed an under-goal stab in the closing seconds.
Marata and Daja combined for 27 points while former pros Peter Naron and Leo Bat-og added nine points apiece for Pagadian.
Ozamiz and Tribu Sugbu disputed the top spot and the right to figure in the finals. The Cooking Oil Masters second setback eliminated them in the third leg of the Nature's Spring-NBC pre-season series supported by Sulpicio Lines, Molten, Spring Cooking Oil, and Prime Channel.
The race for the finals ticket in the other bracket is also hotly contested with North Cotabato barging straight into the finals should it win its final game against Valencia. A lost by more than two points will automatically give Valencia a free ride to the finals as Pagadian lost to North Cotabato by four points.
The Scores:
Ozamiz, 79 - Bansil 22, Ilanga 11, Guerrero 10, Basco 9, Cavan 9, Aguilar 6, Sampilo 4, Alavarado 3, Libatog 2, De Leon 2, Liangco 1, Cabigkis 0.
Spring, 78 - Rodriguez 19, De Castro 14, Neo 13, Corbin 8, Yambao 8, Manuel 5, Reyes 4, Caceres 3, Hubalde 3.
Quarters: 18-24, 34-46, 54-57, 79-78.
Pagadian, 75 - Marata 14, Daja 13, Bat-og 9, Naron 9, Dayota 7, Coldura 6, Sinco 6, Cortez 4, Quilo 3, Ayok 2, Singidas 2, Pamaran 0, Saludsod 0, Isidro 0.
Valencia, 74 - Navales 14, Clavel 13, Cruz 11, Cabili 10, Bayron 9, Taligatos 9, Braga 4, Adams 2, Cesar 2, Romaguera 0.
(January 14, 2006 issue)
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