Cabalen sweeps opponents

Thursday night’s action in the UFO Inter-Organization Basketball Friendship League belonged to Cabalen, as it swept its two assignments at the TSL Sports Complex.

In the UFO Inter-Organization Basketball Friendship League 2011 Visio-Bud Cup, Cabalen/Noni outclassed MDX/Blue Haus, 79-69, while in the UFO Visio-Docomo Pacific Cup, masters division, Cabalen/Wings Travel clobbered SAFSWO/Ebisuya, 91-66.

The win in the UFO Bud Cup was Cabalen/Noni’s second in three games, as the team recovered from a sorry loss against UPAA/Docomo Hoopaholics last week, 65-81. In that defeat, Noni was held scoreless in the last 3:32 of the game.

Against MDX/Blue Haus, Cabalen/Noni made sure it would not fold up in the homestretch. This time, it was Cabalen’s turn to silence its foe in the payoff period, as the Noni Saipan-supported squad held MDX to only one point in about six and a half minutes in the fourth before Zack Babauta ended the spell with a triple in the last 4.2 seconds of the match.

The fourth canto began with MDX on top, 57-54. Then an 8-0 start put Cabalen in the lead, 62-57, but MDX answered with its own string of points to regain the upper hand, 65-62, 6:28 to go in the final quarter.

That was the last time MDX/Blue Haus enjoyed the driver’s seat, as it missed one field goal after another for more than six minutes. MDX’s only point in that drought came from Dexter Tenorio’s split free throw at the 2:31 mark with Cabalen threatening to pull away, 75-66.

Cabalen managed to pad its lead as the clock melted down behind the hot shooting of Bon Tamayo. The Cabalen gunner scored 11 markers in the fourth quarter and 31 overall, a huge improvement from his seven-point output in their loss against Docomo. Kae Bernardo and Lerio Pagarao chipped in 20 and 13, respectively.

Babauta paced MDX with 14 points, but his team still fell to a 0-4 record.

In the masters division game, Cabalen/Wings Travel capitalized on the depleted crew of SAFSWO/Ebisuya to cruise to the 25-point victory.

The win improved the defending champion’s record to 2-0 and gave the team the lead in the five-squad field.

SAFSWO/Ebisuya debuted in the league with only six players, while Cabalen missed only one from its 12-player roster. Despite the disadvantage, SAFSWO/Ebisuya gave Cabalen a good fight, but only in the first half.

Cabalen led by only a basket after the break, 39-37, before it went to business in the third period, outgunning SAFSWO/Ebisuya, 22-10, for a big 61-47 advantage. The defending champion continued pounding the hapless SAFSWO/Ebisuya in the fourth en route to an easy win.

Ed Diaz paced Cabalen with 25 points, while three of his teammates also scored in double figures. Edsel Mendoza had 16, while Alex Ocampo and Mike Cruz contributed 12 and 11, respectively. Mike Surima top-scored for SAFSWO/Ebisuya with 20.

Cabalen/Wings Travel 91 – Diaz 25, Mendoza 16, Ocampo 12, Cruz 11, Atalig 7, Verano 7, Macoto 6, Yalung 2, Palacios 2.

SAFSWO/Ebisuya 66 – Surima 20, Buniag 14, Delos Santos 13, Darag 8, Echavez 6, Jacob 5.

Scoring by quarters: 23-17, 39-37, 61-47, 91-66.

Cabalen/Noni 79 – Tamayo 31, Bernardo 20, Pagarao 13, Demapan 4, Yabut 4, Pantaleon 2, David 2, Basilla 2.

MDX/Blue Haus 69 – Babauta 14, Tenorio 11, Lisua 10, Palacios 9, Z. Diaz 8, E. Diaz 8, Lauron 6, Galulu 2.

Scoring by quarters: 22-19, 41-39, 57-54, 79-69.