MJD takes first finals seat

MJD Enterprises’ Jorge De Guzman lets go of a scoop shot in front of two GMJ/IKKI Wholesale defenders during the fourth quarter of their semis game in the masters division of the San Antonio caging last Tuesday at the San Antonio court. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

MJD Enterprises secured the first finals berth in the masters division of the 2015 San Antonio Community Action Network Basketball League after eliminating GMJ/IKKI Wholesale, 103-92, last Tuesday at the San Antonio court.
MJD peppered GMJ/IKKI with perimeter jumpers in the fourth quarter to gain cushion after the opposing teams played neck-and-neck in the first three periods.

Jun Tabora, Randy Mungcal, and Alex Ocampo teamed up in short 10-4 run capped by the latter’s banked 10-footer to give MJD its biggest lead in the match, 98-86, down to the last two minutes of the match.

Back-to-back baskets from Robert Guiang and Marlon Binuya kept GMJ/IKKI in the game, 90-98, but another short jumper from Tabora brought MJD’s lead back to double-digit, 100-90. GMJ/IKKI was left with 1:15 to overhaul the deficit and it ran out of time and enough shots, as only Jun Pantaleon scored for the squad in the closing minute of the match, while MJD got one more short jumper from Jo Parcotillo and a split from Mungcal.

Mungcal was one of the four MJD players to finish in twin digits in their semis win against GMJ/IKKI with his 18 points. Tabora led the finalist with his 40 points, while Jun Alipio and Ocampo contributed 19 and 11, respectively.

Binuya paced GMJ/IKKI, firing 20, Fradel Sedillo chipped in 18, and Pantaleon tallied 15.

Sedillo waxed hot early, knocking in 10 points in the first quarter to lift GMJ/IKKI to a 26-24 lead. Team captain Marlon Sison also found his target in the opening canto, hitting two triples. He did not play in the entire fourth quarter, as he was visibly frustrated with a couple of calls in the closing minutes of the third period.

He was slapped with a technical foul after he threw the ball in an inbound play from their backcourt in protest of a what he believed should have been a 3-second violation charged to MJD. In earlier parts of the game, the opposing teams had their share of complains, causing some delays in the semis match. Tabora canned the technical free throw off Sison’s infraction and MJD went on to score 5 more points as GMJ/IKKI momentarily lost focus in the game and committed turnovers.

A buzzer-beating jumper from Dennis Cortez gave GMJ/IKKI a break, but MJD still had the lead after the third period, 78-73, and never looked back as the first finalist consistently hit jumpers in the final canto to widen the gap.

MJD will face in the finals the winner in the other semis pairing between Armatech and VM Production. The second semis match was played last night and results will be reported in Saipan Tribune’s Friday edition.

MJD 103 —Tabora 40, Alipio 19, Mungcal 18, Ocampo 11, De Guzman 6, Parcotillo 4, Vargas 2, Rosario 2,

GMJ/IKKI 92 — Binuya 20, Sedillo 18, Pantaleon 15, Dizon 11, Sison 9, Cortez 6, Guiang 6, Galulu 4, Montano 3.

Scoring by quarters: 24-26, 52-50, 78-73, 103-92.