Friday, September 22, 2006 Saints clobber i-Cloud in Socsksargen tourney
* Sarangani Migs beats Medex
GENERAL Santos City -- The underdog Sarangani Migs Tuesday evening unexpectedly beaten the highly favored Mindanao Medical Center (MMC) Medex, 96-81, at the Oval Plaza covered court here in their first encounter in the Socsksargen Basketball League (SBL) 2nd Conference-Double D Cup Commercial Basketball Tournament sponsored by Representative Arthur "Dodo" Y. Pingoy, Jr. of the 2nd District of South Cotabato.
In the first game Tuesday, the heavily reinforced Saints of the St. Elizabeth Hospital clobbered ill-manned i-Cloud Company, 98-75, to taste its first victory of the season.
With ace shooter Apol Coronado, formerly of Pacman-Gensan, beefing up the Medex, the victory of the Sarangani Agricultural Company Inc. (Saci)-owned team was less expected by the growing crowd attending the second playing day of the season.
The Medical Experts led by just one point, 15-14, at the end of the first quarter but Coach Eddie Tingzon's steered well his boys to a 44-33 half-time finish.
Medex, under team governor Dr. Kit Campos, was able to cut down the lead from 11 points to seven at the close of the third, but the Banana Growers' strict compliance to Coach Tingzon's orders enabled them to erect a 15-point advantage when the final buzzer came through.
Newcomer guards Ali Mambuay and Dandy Garcia, both stood only 5'7, fairly contributed to the Sarangani Mig's opening sorty after a dismal performance in the Inaugural Conference.
On the other hand, the upper hand victory of the renamed Saints, formerly the Rebels, over the debuting i-Cloud Company was practically expected by all with the additional of 6'2 center Gabriel Maloloy-on, formerly of Dole Juicers, and 6'4 center Kim Madera who was dropped by the Tampakan Copper only last week.
The Saints, under new team manager Chito "Bweno" Buagas, virtually chewed the smaller i-Cloud in all quarters, 27-8, 46-22, 67-51, 98-75.
Playing Coach Leo Venancio of i-Cloud relied on the shooting skills of Leo Paller and the rebounding ability of Michael Angalan, both stood 6'3, to withstand the enemies' onslaught.
Team Governor Nestor Mercado however has still a chance until the end of the first elimination round to add two to four formidable players into their camp to complete the peculiar 18-man official team line up allowed by the SBL Board of Governors chaired by Tony Boy Veneracion of the Saints for the current conference.
Meanwhile, the second congressional district office of South Cotabato confirmed the attendance of Congressman Pingoy for the soft opening program of the SBL 2nd Conference-Double D Cup Commercial Basketball Tournament at the Banga Municipal Gym on Saturday afternoon.
Joel S. Dimput, officer-in-charge of the 2nd Congressional District Office, said a motorcade around town would prelude the formal opening program that would signal the coming of big league basketball in the district.
Banga Municipal Mayor Isidro Janita and other municipal officials would attend the program and witness the opening games.
Banga Municipal Planning and Development Coordinator Virgilio S. de Leon is coordinating with barangay officials to ensure that barangay folks would be able to enjoy the games that are very seldom stage in their peaceful town.
Pingoy, who donated P200,000 for the prizes, has requested the staging of the weekend games in rotation in Koronadal City and the towns of the second district, particularly Banga, Norala, Sto. Niño and Tantangan, that have playable venues.
Assigned to the first outing on Saturday are arch rival MMC Medex and Saints. In the second setting, the Dole Juicers would face home team South Cotabato Highways.
The Provincial Government of South Cotabato, through Governor Daisy Avance Fuentes, is also supporting the SBL 2nd Conference-Double D Cup.
The SouthPhil Arts and Sports Promotion that spearheaded the formation of SBL is handling the promotion and marketing side of the tournament. (Press release)
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