Abuel helps Jeremiah snap skid

Defending champion Jeremiah moved out of its slump after slipping
past Ezekiel, 88-87, in the 2008 CIM-FCC Inter-Color Basketball
League-3rd Genesis Cup Saturday night at the CIM-FCC Basketball Court in Gualo Rai.

Wowie Abuel nailed the crucial basket that allowed Jeremiah
to pull off a hair of a win and snap its two-game losing skid.

Abuel drove to the left wing and connected on a banked shot
to put Jeremiah in the lead, 88-87, with three seconds remaining
in the game.

Earlier Ezekiel grabbed the lead, 87-86, after Brendon Perez
canned a triple from the left key, with 12 seconds left in the
fourth period.

Jeremiah sued for time to set up a play and had Abuel taking
charge and delivering the goods for the defending champion.

Ezekiel was out of timeout and was force to inbound the ball
from the baseline on Jeremiah’s court. A traveling violation in the inbound play caused Jeremiah to lose possession and the game.

Abuel did not play in the first half making all his 12 points in
the second half to improve Jeremiah’s record to 2-3.

Without Abuel, Dan Olivos, Amor Casabuena, and Jonathan Ong took the cudgels for Jeremiah in the first half, as the trio scored eight points apiece giving their team a 38-35 halftime lead.
Perez nailed nine first-half points, while White Capalad and
Ernie Moises chipped in seven each to keep Ezekiel afloat after
20 minutes of play.

The second half was another close match with the same faces
leading Ezekiel and Jeremiah’sattacks until Abuel stepped up
and delivered the killer blow.

Casabuena and Bernard Montano tops-cored for Jeremiah with
17 points apiece, while Ong finished with 14 markers. Olivos added 12 for Jeremiah’s balance offense.

Capalad paced Ezekiel with 22 markers, while Moises and Perez contributed 20 and 15, respectively. The loss dropped Ezekiel to a 0-4 record.

Daniel is leading the league with a perfect 4-0 mark, followed
by Isaiah (3-1).

The top two teams after the three round-robin regular season
will square off for the championship trophy next month. The
last two placers will battle for the third place plum.

Jeremiah 88 – Casabuena 17, Montano 17, Ong 14, Olivos 112, Abuel 12, Buenabajo 8, Garcia 4, Lopez 2.

Ezekiel 87 – Capalad 22, Moises 20, Perez 15, Ramos 6, Chavez 6, Galvan 4, Villanueva 2, Rago 2.

Scoring by halves: 38-35, 88-87.