BARILI leaned on Crispin Villacencio and Jomar Ravanta to beat a stubborn Samboan, 73-63, and move to second in Group B in the Mayor Inocentes Cabaron Invitational Inter-town basketball tournament.
Barili improved to 3-1 for solo second place, while Samboan dropped to third place at 3-2. Dalaguete secured the No. 1 spot in the group at a perfect 5-0 after Boljoon failed to show up for their match.
The two teams were neck-and-neck early in the game, with Samboan holding a close 37-35 edge at halftime before Barili took over, 54-50 at the end of the third period. In the fourth period, Samboan, which won its first two games of the tournament, got unravelled by some bad calls and Barili slowly pulled way for its 10-point win.
Villacencio and Ravanta had 15 points each for Barili, while the ever-reliable Raphael Charles Dinampo led Samboan with 21 points and Miaco Gelacio had a 13 points.
At 3-1, Barili now has a solid chance of advancing to the knockout phase with a game at hand against Sibonga on May 4. Even if it loses and finishes at a tie with Samboan, the winner-over-the-other rule means Barili will take on Group A No. 1 Dumanjug in the crossover round for a chance to play for the title and the P200,000 top prize.
The other crossover match will feature Dalaguete (5-0) and Aloguinsan. /ML