The 2012 DLX/Gualo Rai Invitational Basketball League resumed last Wednesday night at the Gualo Rai Basketball Court with Blue Haus posting a 63-51 win over Mawati.
Blue Haus turned the close game into a 12-point victory after holding Mawati to one field goal and four points in the fourth quarter.
The match was even after the third period, 47-all, and Mawati even took the lead in the opening minutes of the fourth, 48-47, off Arjay Nonato's split free throw. Neither team managed to make a field goal in the first two and a half minutes of the final canto before Blue Haus ended the slump and outgunned Mawati in the next six minutes, 12-2, for a 59-50 lead. Five different players teamed up in Blue Haus' fourth-quarter push, while Mawati's lone field goal came from Dela Cruz's follow-up shot midway in that canto.
By the time the game reached its final two minutes, Blue Haus had the win already in the bag, as Bernard Aquino went 2-for-2 from the foul line for their double-digit lead, 61-51.
Blue Haus managed to pull away from Mawati in the fourth after getting several interceptions and converting the latter's errors into fastbreak plays. Joseph Galulu walked away with two easy layups, while Sam Fernandez, Melvin Capalad, and Sheen Metran had one each.
Galulu top-scored for Blue Haus with his 16 markers, drilling 10 of them in the opening quarter, which started late as organizers scrambled to drain the court after it rained almost the whole day last Wednesday.
The delayed Blue Haus-Mawati tiff was only the third game played in the second edition of the DLX B league this year as Monday's two matches were rainedout.
With Galulu waxing hot early, Mawati took a 24-10 lead, and remained on top at the break, 34-25, as Aquino also started hitting his marks in the second canto.
Then at the beginning of the second half, Mawati managed to recover and tied the game, 47-all. Nonato, Dela Cruz, Lawrence Rollon, and Jerome Reyes joined forces in the third-quarter comeback, as all four scored at least four points each, while Resty Corotan added three on an and-1 play.
Blue Haus lost the lead in the third when only Capalad hit more than one field goal and only two other players-Fernandez and Metran-lit up the scoreboard in the penultimate canto.
However, Blue Haus regrouped in the fourth to save the win, while Mawati ran out of steam after playing catch up in the first three quarters.
Looban 64, Yuichiro/Docomo 58
In the second game, Robert Guiang and Kevin De Leon delivered in the homestretch to lift Looban to a six-point win over Yuichiro/Docomo.
Guiang and De Leon teamed up in all but two of Looban's 15 points in the fourth quarter to thwart Yuichiro/Docomo's repeated comeback bids. The youth De Leon scored 5 of Looban's first 7 points to keep their distance, while the veteran Guiang had 6 of their last 8, including a pair of crucial free throws that sealed their win.
Looban led from start to finish with Juluis Tabamo helping out Guiang and De Leon on offense. However, Yuichiro/Docomo behind the hot shooting on Jun Abedes remained afloat and was only behind by 4 points at the end of the third, 45-49.
Abedes continued to burn the hoops in the futile attempt to put Yuichiro/Docomo in the lead, adding 8 more markers. However, his efforts fell short to the combined 13 markers of De Leon and Guiang, who finished their first game with 16 points each. Abedes had a game-high 27 points, but he was the lone double figure scorer for Yuichiro/Docomo, as Erwin Gomez nailed only 9.
First Game
Blue Haus 63 - Galulu 16, Aquino 11, Metran 11, Capalad 10, Fernandez 8, Itaas 2, Olivos 2.
Mawati 51 - Rollon 14, Dela Cruz 12, Reyes 9, Nonato 8, Corotan 6, Ibanez 2.
Scoring by quarters: 24-12, 34-25, 47-47, 63-51.
Second Game
Looban 64 - De Leon 16, Guiang 16, Tabamo 14, Montano 6, Mateo 6, Olfindo 4.
Yuichiro/Docomo 58 - Abedes 27, Gomez 9, Palacios 7, Sanciangco 4, Achas 3, Lizardo 2, Enriquez 2, Tengco 2.
Scoring by quarters: 16-11, 37-31, 49-45, 64-58.
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