By: Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Just after All Souls Day, basketball fanatics stormed to the Dinggoy Roxas Civic Center, Roxas City, for the second leg of the ODM Sports pre-Sinadya Basketball Cup.
It was a quadruple-header Sunday with three teams continuing their dominance to sport an unblemished record in the prized tournament.
The first game featured heavyweight TJ Cong Tawi squad trouncing Basketball Maniacs, 81-51, with the TJ team easily dispatching of their foe in a display of supremacy.
The Maniacs started the ball game just how they preferred it to be, but as the second half ticked, TJ started to pull away and take control of the game behind their bench players and the effort from Nilo Catimbang with 11 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 rejections, helping him win the best player of the game award.
The next game between the CPU Golden Lions and Martkina Panay went down to the wire and had a cardiac finish as CPU prevailed, 81-78.
Both teams went at each other and had a neck and neck affair in the first three quarters, with both teams not giving up and battling out for position in the paint.
In the final canto with under two minutes left in the ball-game, CPU led by 6 but was cut instantly to 1 off JR Loyola’s trey and a perimeter shot, then as the clock went past the minute mark, CPU had a crucial turnover that turned defense to offense for Martkina as Janry Barres nailed a fastbreak layup that gave them the lead.
CPU then called timeout then drew a beautiful play to free up shooter Anton Llanza, drilling the cold-blooded shot from down-town that gave them a two-point lead with 15 seconds left. CPU managed a defensive stop on the other end that helped them seal the win.
In the third game, Rovil Autohub and Balasan dueled it out and traded treys where Rovil dominated, 101-87.
Balasan went hot courtesy of main gunner Inno Miclat, hitting two quick threes that sparked his team but Rovil had too many weapons.
Rovil then adjusted their defensive schemes, sending in pesky defender Geo Arceo that made it hard for Miclat to be in his comfort zone, then they continued to roll past the game and stuck to their game plan.
The last game was a demolition, as Hercor handed Pontevedra a blowout loss, 81-51.
Pontevedra shot the lights out in the opening frame prompting Hercor to quickly employ their well-known full-court pressure defense that proved to be the turning point of the game.
Hercor started to pull away and break the game wide-open after their full-court press was established.
The next games will be on November 9, 2019, the last day of the eliminations, and November 10, 2019, will be the start of the quarterfinals.
