Finance/Shipping wins TDHC caging title

Finance/Shipping rallied from a 14-point deficit in the second half to nip Casino Titans, 102-100, in Game 3 of their best-of-three finals in the 7th Annual Tinian Dynasty Hotel & Casino Inter-Departmental Basketball League last Thursday at the TDHC staff housing basketball court.

The third and final game of the finals had championship written all over it as supporters of both teams filled the open court venue and came armed with drums, streamers, and all sorts of banners.

The players didn’t disappoint the crowd as action was intense from the get-go with Finance/Shipping getting the upper hand early and led 28-22 after the first quarter.

Casino Titans, however, began to exploit Finance/Shipping’s lack of height in its eight-man rotation at the start of the second.

With only 5’8” center Michael Torregosa standing in the way of 6’3” giants Ringo Reyes and Roann Awa, Casino Titans repeatedly threw the ball inside and that resulted in them taking the lead and enjoying a 50-42 cushion at the halftime break.

Things would go from bad to worse for Finance/Shipping at the start of the third quarter, as Casino Titans’ dynamic duo of Reyes and Dave Ramirez torched their defenders for a combined 25 points to give their team a 14-point advantage, 84-70, heading into the fourth and final quarter of the contest.

With the 2008 championship slipping from its grasp, Finance/Shipping turned to the league’s smallest player in Dan Bustillos and the cat-quick guard didn’t disappoint as he presided over the team’s payoff period comeback by stealing the ball thrice from Titans Casino’s ballhandlers.

Bustillos’ thievery allowed Finance/Shipping to trim the lead to eight points. Casino Titans also made a boo-boo of sorts when they sat down Ramirez and Reyes for long stretches in the pivotal final 10 minutes.

Their absence allowed Finance/Shipping to gnaw at the lead—led by Torregosa’s 18 fourth quarter points—and with 30 seconds left in the ballgame they took a two-point advantage, 102-100.

Despite their fourth-quarter collapse, Casino Titans still had a chance to send the game into overtime with four seconds left on the clock, but an attempted alley-oop to Reyes was foiled by a triple team as the final horn sounded and Finance/Shipping’s fans exploded in celebration and spilled inside the court.

Torregosa scored 34 points in leading Finance/Shipping to its first title in eight years, while Bustillos added 20 in support.

Ramirez paced Casino Titans in the loss with 28 markers, while Reyes muscled his way for 27 points.

Tinian Casino drew first blood in the race-to-two final series by beating Finance/Shipping 91-71 in Game 1. Finance/Shipping, however, took Game 2 with a 75-63 win to force the third and deciding match.

Prior to Game 3 of the championship, Security Team took on the Referees Team with the latter getting the victory.

Finance/Shipping 102 – Torregosa 34, Bustillos 20, Manriquez 14, Piol 10, Espiritu 7, Rosales 7, Gerogalin 6, Malimban 4, Gapasin 0.

Casino Titans 100 – Ramirez 28, Reyes 27, Awa Roann 13, Advincula 11, Camero 10, Que Jorj 10, Hermo 1, Bernal 0, De Leon 0, Gurung 0.

Scoring by quarters: 28-22, 42-50, 70-84, 102-100.

Referees: Bogs Pascua, Romy Libut, and Don Sarmiento.