Friday, September 26, 2008 Sportswriters beat GMA-7 in exhibition
RICO Navarro, Jonas Panerio and Manny Villaruel finished what they started as they powered the Sportswriters Association of Cebu (SAC) Print All-Stars to a 59-54 conquest of four-time Newsmen Basketball Association of Cebu (NBAC) champion GMA-7 Kapuso in their exhibition match the other night at the Aznar Coliseum.
The goodwill encounter, made possible through the support of International Pharmaceuticals Inc. (IPI) and Southwestern University (SWU) athletic director Ryan Aznar, was among the highlights of the Press Freedom Week celebration.
The triumvirate of Navarro, Panerio and Villaruel stoked the early offensive fire for the Sportwriters, conspiring for 16 points as the wards of coach Raffy B. Osumo raced to an 18-12 lead after the first 10 minutes of play.
The Sportwriters, however, misfired their targets in the second quarter where they were handcuffed to only four points. In that stretch, Godfrey Rellin knocked in back-to-back triples—both off the glass—of his 10 points to push GMA-7 ahead by 13 points, 35-22, at halftime.
The two protagonists figured in a nip-and-tuck battle with neither team leading by more than five points from there onwards.
To recapitulate, the Sportswriters stunned the Kapuso stars won the close contest with their resiliency and porous defensive stance, thanks to the aggressive plays by reliable shaded lane patrolman Lito Tecson and speedy pointman Edri Aznar.
With five minutes remaining in the game, Navarro knotted the count at 48-all and then Villaruel split his charities for a 49-48 SAC lead.
GMA-7 snatched back the driver’s seat, 50-48, but Panerio sank a triple to put the Sportswriters in front, 51-50, for good.
Panerio then completed a three-point play and then Villaruel and Tecson split their charities to give SAC a 57-52 breather with less than a minute left to play.
GMA-7 threatened for the last time, 54-57, as Panerio cooly nailed two free throws to settle the final tally.
Panerio topscored for the Sportswriters with 15 points, even as three others submitted twin digits.
Navarro had 13 points followed by Aznar and Villaruel with 12 and 10 markers, respectively.
Rellin had a game-high 22 points for GMA-7. The missing link for the Kapuso side was three-time NBAC MVP Jun Solon, who was held off to only eight points. (Pooled Report)
