Saipan Tribune

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Monday, November 16, 2009

Hyatt secures pennant in govt caging

Hyatt Regency Saipan bagged the pennant in the IT&E Inter-Government/Business Basketball League, following an 87-76 win over NTT Docomo on Friday night at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

Hyatt recorded the pennant-clinching win in front of a few IT&E players who watched the game hoping for a Docomo victory. Hyatt finished the regular season with a 10-1 mark, tying IT&E for the No. 1 spot. However, the Ray Lizama-coached Hyatt won the tiebreak as it prevailed over the host in their lone meeting in the regular season, 112-100.

A 9-0 start anchored on Dave Sablan's fastbreak layups gave Hyatt control of the game and it led by as much as 13 in the second period before Docomo cut the lead to as low as four points in the fourth period.

Sablan finished with 10 points in the first quarter, while Ronald Delos Reyes nailed two triples before leaving the game due to a sprained left ankle he sustained after colliding with Docomo's Kelvin Fitial.

Sablan and Delos Reyes' early explosion gave Hyatt a 22-15 lead at the end of the first period and Docomo played catch-up from then on.

A quick 5-0 run at the beginning of the fourth period on Teregeyo's layup and Wowie Abuel's triple moved Docomo within four, 57-61. However, Sablan and Gino Libu answered with a 10-0 scoring binge to bring the lead back to double digits, 71-61, going into the final half of that canto.

Hyatt hung in there en route to an 11-point win and the top seeding in the eight-team playoffs.

Sablan played like a man possessed in Hyatt's last game of the regular season, as he exploded for 43 points. Bernard Aquino had 14 markers, while Libuw and Lizama chipped in 10 apiece.

Docomo ended up with a 7-4 mark to remain in third place.

In the first game, Tinian improved to a 6-4 record after outgunning Commonwealth Health Center, 86-83. Tinian played its last game on Saturday against Micronesian Brokers, Inc. but the result was unavailable at press time. Winner of that match will occupy the No. 4 spot.

Tinian and CHC had a shootout with the former's Tony Borja and Leo Pascua trading shots from downtown against the latter's Edgar Pangelinan and Tom Diaz. In the end, Borja's back-to-back triples spelled the difference and lift Tinian to a three-point win.

Borja drilled 29 points, making 27 of them from beyond the arc, while Pascua had two and finished with 13 points.

Pangelinan buried five triples and had a team-high 29 points, while Diaz nailed four treys and collected 19 markers. With the loss, CHC dropped to a 3-8 record and failed to advance to the next round.

First Game

Tinian 86 - T. Borja 28, J. Santos 14, Pascua 13, R. Reyes 13, Fernandez 8, P. Manglona 6, K. Borja 2, K. Manglona 2.

CHC 83 - Pangelinan 29, Diaz 19, Lisua 16, Siedler 9, Brostom 6.

Scoring by quarters: 17-21, 43-35, 63-56, 86-83.

Second Game

Hyatt 87 - Sablan 43, Aquino 14, Lizama 10, Libuw 10, Delos Reyes 8, Mendoza 2.

Docomo 76 - Fitial 23, Teregeyo 21, Bernardo 14, Abuel 10, Lee 6, R. Alvarez 2, C. Alvarez 2.

Scoring by quarters: 22-15, 44-32, 61-52, 87-76.