Playoff schedule for Bud Cup set

With the regular season of the 2005 Budweiser Cup BANMI Men’s Island-wide Basketball League in the books, officials have already finalized the schedule for the opening round of the playoffs.

This according to BANMI vice president Elias Rangamar, who disclosed yesterday that the first round will kick off with two games on Monday, Nov. 21, at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

Securing slots for the playoffs were pennant champions Bud Light-Toyota Tundra, regular season runner-up Bud Ice-SaipanCell Hoopaholics, MARPAC-Nissan Titans, O’Douls-Ol’Aces, Michelob-Master Construction Torque, and Bacardi-Golden Oldies.

The playoffs will feature a single-round elimination, culminating with a best-of-three championship series.

Kicking off the playoffs is two-time defending champion Toyota, who will battle sixth-seed Bacardi at 7pm. Toyota defeated Bacardi twice in the regular season and earned the No. 1 spot after posting a league-best 12-2 win-loss card. Bacardi, meanwhile, squeaked into the playoffs after finishing in a tie with Anhueser-8 3’s Construction. The two teams had 5-9 records, with Bacardi getting the ticket after beating Anheuser twice in the regular season.

The second game features No. 2 Hoopaholics against No. 5 Torque. Team Hoops finished right behind Toyota with an 11-3 card, defeating Michelob on both regular season meetings. For Michelob, the team finished with a 6-8 record after playing most of the second half of the season without one-man fastbreak Tony Diaz.

Capping off the first round is No. 3 Titans and No. 4 Ol’Aces as they battle on Wednesday at 7pm. The Titans finished the regular season with a respectable 10-4 record, while the Ol’Aces rebounded in the second half to even their record at 7-7. The two teams split their regular season encounters, with the Titans winning by two points in the first round and the Ol’Aces returning the favor by the same difference in the second round.

The Titans closed the regular season on a high note Monday night after edging Michelob, 93-89, in a game that would not have changed the seedings.

With power forward Kelvin Fitial having his way for a whopping 35 points, the Titans managed to erase their 17-21 first quarter deficit and head into the break up 46-41.

Michelob continued to fight in the second half and knotted the score after the third period, 66-66, but the team fell just short of pulling an upset as Fitial knocked in 14 points in the fourth.

Aleric Aguon and Ponce Rasa played well for 27 and 17 points for the Titans, while Dave Sablan and Ed Diaz led Michelob with 29 and 27 points.

Meanwhile, the winner of the Toyota-Golden Oldies bout will get an automatic ticket to the finals. The second round of the playoffs will feature the winners of the other two bouts fighting for the other championship series slot.

For more information about the playoff schedule, contact Rangamar at 664-2502.

MARPAC-Nissan Titans 93 – Fitial 35, Aguon 27, P. Rasa 17, Peter 9, Joyner 5, Wesley 2, Quitugua 1.
Michelob-Torque 89 – D. Sablan 29, E. Diaz 27, T. Diaz 12, Norita 8, Ayuyu 8, Mendiola 3, Hocog 2.
Scoring by quarters: 17-21, 46-41, 66-66, 93-89.
Referees: Noel Delos Santos and Dado Vistal.