C&R beats Olivos/GEC in debut

Powerhouse C&R Distributors held off a late rally by Olivos/GEC to win its debut in the Inaugural PILCOWA-San Miguel Beer Basketball League Thursday night at the CIC Centre Basketball Court in Garapan.

Despite controlling the match from the get-go, the Marvin Deocares-coached squad had to endure nerve-wracking moments in the final five minutes before pulling out a 103-96 win.

Sparked by the outside sniping of Bernard Montano and inside forays by Edmark Mendoza and Glenn Mercurio, Olivos/GEC trimmed their 69-77 deficit entering the fourth quarter to a mere deuce with about four minutes to go in the ballgame.

But rather than panic, C&R displayed some endgame poise with veteran guard Andres “Jhun” Estolas Jr. teaming with youthful high-riser Jericho Cruz in delivering the critical blows to preserve the victory.

With Olivos/GEC threatening at 80-78 following a fastbreak bucket by Mendoza, Estolas casually dribbled the ball down to their frontcourt before accelerating and dropping an acrobatic scoop shot against three defenders that gave C&R a four-point lead.

After a botched Olivos/GEC offensive on the other end, Estolas this time played the role of setup man and lobbed an alley-oop pass to a streaking Cruz to peg the count at 84-78.

But C&R was not out of the woods yet, as Olivos/GEC dropped an 8-2 run in a span of a minute to tie the score at 86-all.

That would be the team’s last hurrah, however, as C&R tightened the screws on defense and Estolas and Cruz continued their two-man demolition job to give C&R a victory in its debut.

Despite missing the first quarter, Cruz still went on to lead C&R with 29 points. The top scorer of the recently concluded FIBA Oceania Youth Tournament in Guam actually did double duty that night as he played for the CNMI Junior Nationals in their pennant-clinching win against Sixers in the Rotary caging.

Estolas provided leadership and scoring support to Cruz, unloading 11 of his 17 points in the pivotal fourth quarter. Other C&R players that scored in double figures were J.R. Barrios (12 points), Melvin Capalad (11), and Errol Peredo (11).

Mendoza fired 23 points in a losing cause for Olivos/GEC, which also got 19 from forward Molly Cacho and 15 from Mercurio. Other double-digit scorers for the team were Ivan De Vero (10) and Mike Umali (10).

Both teams battled through a nip-and-tuck first quarter with C&R taking a 27-25 lead thanks to the nine points of bull-strong Capalad.

Olivos/GEC then trailed by a dozen at the half as Cruz, Barrios, and Badong Camacho tossed in seven points or more to stake C&R to a 55-43 lead.

Cruz continued to be in the forefront of the team’s offensive in the third, as C&R took the aforementioned eight-point lead into the payoff period.

Inaugural PILCOWA-San Miguel Beer Basketball League resumes today with Century Insurance taking on San Mig Lite in the 6:30pm first game and Diamond Auto Care squaring off against MIGS in the 8:30pm second game.

Sunday’s matches, meanwhile, will pit Aon Insurance against Olivos starting at 5pm and C&R tackling Diamond Auto care beginning 7pm.

C&R Dist. 103 – Cruz 29, Estolas 17, Barrios 12, Peredo 11, Capalad 11, Camacho 8, Villacrusis 7, Artates 4, Gamboa 2, Villarin 1, Dayrit 1.

Olivos/GEC 96 – Mendoza 23, Cacho 19, Mercurio 15, De Vero 10, Umali 10, Montano 8, Arreza 4, Mendiola 4, Buenabajo 3.

Scoring by quarters: 27-25, 55-43, 77-69, 103-96.

Referees: Fyke Sabino and Benjie Abadilla.