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Friday, September 23, 2005
Mantawi beaten in Game 1
Former Cebu Basketball Federation (CBF) journeyman Julius Navales led the Valencia Golden Harvest to a methodical 91-84 win Wednesday night over third-seed Mantawi Sparkling Nights to move a win away from clinching a Southern Conference semifinal seat in the 2005 Panasonic-NBC National Championship at the Valencia City Gym.
The 5-foot-8 guard, who was “Find of the Year” last season, scored a game-high 22 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the 3-point area. Navales also had five assists and two rebounds.
Navales, once frustrated for getting little playing time with his former CBF teams, led the Golden Harvest in taking control of the game from the onset. His back-to-back triples midway in the fourth quarter gave Valencia a 78-68 lead in the final 5:08 of the game.
Mantawi made a last-ditch effort when Jhayson Alminario, McDonald Santos and Marvin Tundag moved the Nights within 80-83 in the last 57 seconds, but the host team did not buckle down in the endgame to take the series-opening win.
First-quarter collapse
The Sparkling Nights trailed all the way and never recovered from a poor start after they allowed Valencia to score 31 points in the first quarter.
Former Holy Cross of Davao banger Eliazar Berami and ex-University of Cebu Webmaster Franklyn Nailon added 17 and 13 points, respectively, for the sixth-seed Valencia, which will gun for a sweep on Monday at the Mandaue City Sports and Cultural Complex.
Ardy Larong led Mantawi with 16 points, six boards and a block, while Dennis Daa chipped in 14 and nine rebounds.
The winner of the series will play defending champion Skygo/Sirlitz-backed Tribu Sugbu in the semifinals. The Iligan Crusaders currently lead Ozamiz Cotta, 1-0, in the other Southern Conference semis.
Valencia (91) – Navales 22, Berami 17, Nailon 13, Cabili 9, Taligatos 7, Cruz 7, Gragasin 5, Toring 4, Adams 3, Bayron 2. Mandaue (84) – Larong 16, Daa 14, Alminario 13, Carretas 10, Santos 9, Tundag 6, Huelar 6, Gloria 4, Moreño 4, Bajenting 2.
Quarters: 31-19, 49-46, 66-56, 91-84. (RCM)
(September 23, 2005 issue)
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