Saipan Tribune

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Bandits send top-ranked SA Pit Bulls packing

The Bandits hijacked top-ranked San Antonio Pit Bulls, 77-74, in Saturday's Blue Haus Invitational Basketball League playoff match at Garapan Basketball Court.

Other teams moving on include Docomo Pacific, Cargo Express, and Yuman Construction.

Docomo eliminated Team Capalad, 77-74, in Saturday's nightcap, while Cargo ousted Yuichiro Electronic, 79-55, and Yuman Construction advanced past Hibiscus, 69-52, back on Feb. 3.

The Bandits are on quite a tear after also booting out Maplas Ka'Money, 86-83, last Tuesday, Feb. 5.

Pit Bulls' Nevin Salem started off strong in the opening period of Saturday's opener and tallied 10 points that went with a pair of 3-pointers for an early, 24-13, margin.

The Bandits fared better on both ends after its first line change as the group rebounded and trimmed its deficit to 31-37 at the half.

The Pit Bulls were held to 13 points after bursting out of their kennels and were stood up again in the third quarter when the Bandits made their move.

Jomar Tumaquip broke loose for 9 points supported by 7 from Gil Gapor and a couple of treys that jolted the Bandits ahead, 56-50, heading into crunch time.

The Bandits made its rivals settle for 7 free throws on four trips in the period.

Both teams had plenty in the tank for a lively fourth quarter that could have went either way.

Pitbulls made the right move in putting Bandits' Jun Pineda on the line in the final moments, but Pineda was up for the challenge and secured the big upset win.

In the late match, Docomo nosed in front, 16-14, in the first canto thanks to a pair of late three-balls. The former maintained a slim 40-37 edge at halftime as Roy Hernandez and Marlon Sison heated up in the second quarter with 7 points apiece.

Leo Galarse led the Capalad crew with a 10-point string in the first period and teammate Pando Muleta drained two threes for 14 points to keep the group in contention in the midpoint of the game.

Still, Docomo seemed to always have an answer and continued to hold the advantage, 60-57, heading into the final stanza.

Capalad's Galarse and Donovan Brennan teamed up for 14 points in the third quarter, however Sison and Zhe Chen thwarted the impact on Docomo's end.

Docomo then did a good job keeping a lid on Capalad's elusive Galarse and held him to just a handful of checks in the clutch.

Jhun Pantaleon tried to step up for the shorthanded Capalad band, but his 10 points came up a trey short of forcing overtime. Sison finished with a team-high 18 points, while Galarse led the field with 23 in the loss.

Results of Sunday's and last night's matches are forthcoming and according to the latest schedule games are set to take place tomorrow night in Garapan at 6:30pm and 8pm.

First Game

Bandits 77 - Gapor 21, Tumaquip 18, Mc. Achas 17, Pineda 8, Mi. Achas 7, Salazar 3, Odicta 2, Sinca 1.

SA Pit Bulls 74 - Salem 21, Cadiang 15, Aranda 10, Palacios 10, Alegre 9, Deguzman 7, Villanueva 2.

Scoring by quarters: 13-24, 31-37, 56-50, 77-74.

Second Game

Docomo Pacific 77 - Sison 18, Metran 16, Hernandez 12, Chen 9, Cruz 6, Suarez 5, Montes 5, Sacramento 2.

Team Capalad 74 - Galarse 23, Muleta 18, Pantaleon 16, Brennan 12, Diyco 2, Siriban 3.

Scoring by quarters: 16-14, 40-38, 60-57, 77-74.