Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Gillamac ’97 nips Steel ’99 to take Game 1 of Eagles div finals series
Defending-champion Gillamac’s ’97 drew first blood in Game 1 of Sacred Heart Alumni Basketball Association (Shaba) Eagles Division finals, holding off a late rally by Worldwide Steel ’99 to fashion out a 65-62 victory.
Meanwhile, White Gold ’96 got off to a quick start with strong defense and dominant rebounding, built on that momentum to upset top-seed Fighter Wine ’90, 63-50, in Game 1 of the Lux Oriens division finals.
Rematch
It was a rematch of last year’s Eagles Division finals, where Gillamac’s swept Worldwide en route to the title. This time around, Worldwide entered the playoffs with the best record in the league and looked to dethrone the reigning Shaba champions.
But Gillamac’s vaunted pressing defense frustrated the bigger Worldwide squad while Walter Ong, Melvin Tan and Shean Barte all drained crucial triples in a the second and third quarters to maintain a six-point lead going into the fourth quarter.
Gillamac’s ’97 (65) – Ong 19, Tan 11, Sia 9, Ariate 8, Barte 6, Sy 5, Ledesma 4, Po 3. Worldwide Steel ’99 (62) – Ong 17, Gilo 15, Huang 13, Pritchard 8, Sykimte 8, Esposo 1. Quarterscores: 16-14, 33-29, 53-46, 65-62.
White Gold ’96 (63) – Borromeo 16, Alejandro 15, Mangubat 10, Siarot 5, Uy 5, Lee 4, Yap 4, Tan 3, Gaisano 2. Fighter Wine ’90 (50) – Que 21, Lim 12, Arienza 5, Go 5, Gatchalian 2, Ng Chee 2, Po 2, Yu 1. Quarterscores: 21-6, 29-25, 45-32, 63-50.
But Worldwide’s Kent Ong and Robert Gilo led a final push that got their team to within a point with just seconds to play. Then Gillamac’s Buck Sia converted two crucial free-throws in the dying seconds to seal the win. Walter Ong led Gillamac’s with 19 points, while brother Kent Ong led Worldwide with 17 points. Gillamac’s can sweep the series with another win on Thursday.
In the other game, Juny Alejandro and Gio Borromeo led White Gold to a 17-0 start and led 21-6 after a quarter. But Fighter Wine battled back behind Dennis Que and Dave Lim to draw within four at halftime.
White Gold again pushed to a double-digit lead in the second half before Fighter Wine again rallied to cut the deficit to six with 1:40 left. Paulsen Uy nailed a triple to finally put the game out of reach.
Borromeo led White Gold with 16 points, while Alejandro added 15. Que led Fighter Wine with 21
points. Another win on Thursday and White Gold can clinch its first Finals appearance.
Gillamac’s ’97 (65) -- Ong 19, Tan 11, Sia 9, Ariate 8, Barte 6, Sy 5, Ledesma 4, Po 3. Worldwide Steel ’99 (62) -- Ong 17, Gilo 15, Huang 13, Pritchard 8, Sykimte 8, Esposo 1. Quarterscores: 16-14, 33-29, 53-46, 65-62.
White Gold ’96 (63) -- Borromeo 16, Alejandro 15, Mangubat 10, Siarot 5, Uy 5, Lee 4, Yap 4, Tan 3, Gaisano 2. Fighter Wine ’90 (50) -- Que 21, Lim 12, Arienza 5, Go 5, Gatchalian 2, Ng Chee 2, Po 2, Yu 1. Quarterscores: 21-6, 29-25, 45-32, 63-50.
(September 27, 2005 issue)
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