Titans, Ol’Aces advance to final four

Third seed MARPAC-Nissan Titans and No. 4 O’Douls-Ol’Aces advanced to the semifinals of the ongoing 2005 Budweiser Cup BANMI Men’s Island-wide Basketball League after turning back strong performances by their opponents Wednesday night at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

The Titans were faced with a tough challenge against the tall frontline of Bacardi-Golden Oldies, but showed they deserved an extension of their season by eliminating their opponents, 77-64.

The Titans put up a decent push in the first 10 minutes of play, attacking from in the inside and outside for a 20-14 lead.

The team slowed down a bit, but no harm was done as they prevented Bacardi from taking advantage by limiting the Oldies to just 12 points while adding another 15 points—11 courtesy of Andres “Jhun” Estolas—to their corner. With that, Nissan padded its lead to nine points, 35-26, before taking a halftime breather.

The Titans went back to its old form as the second half kicked off, switching to turbo mode and ran away from Bacardi. Guard Aleric Aguon drilled two bombs from long range and Charlie Peters connected for two other field goals as Nissan sped away and outscored their opponents, 24-14, to head into the final quarter with a comfortable 59-40 lead.

The Bacardi cagers, however, refused to end their season and fought hard to close the gap. Joe Punzalan connected for a triple, two free throws, and another bucket, while Ray MacDuff swooshed a long jumper of his own to make a dent on the Titans’ lead, but they weren’t able to turn the game around as Aguon sank two more triples and another basket while Tim Wesley capped off their charge with two shots of his own to push the Titans to the semis.

Estolas led Nissan with 21 points, while Aguon and Wesley finished with 19 and 10 points.

Richard Brostrom and Bruce Berline led Bacardi with 16 and 12 points, while Punzalan contributed 10 points.

In the second game, the Ol’Aces saw several double-digit leads slip away before slipping past Michelob-Master Construction Torque, 102-98.

The bout was tight in the early goings with the teams knotted at 23-23 after the first period and the Ol’Aces leading 45-43 at the break.

The Ol’Aces then managed to distance themselves a bit as versatile center Ambrose Ogumoro went loose for 13 points, spearheading a 30-point strike that resulted in the Ol’Aces increasing their lead to 10 points, 75-65, before the fourth quarter.

The Ol’Aces continued to run on all cylinders and led by as much as 15 points with five minutes left before Torque came storming back and went on a 15-3 run to cut the lead to just three points, 86-89, with about two and a half minutes left. Torque veteran Carl Hocog played a key role in the comeback, nailing three straight triples to cut the gap.

The two teams traded baskets, with the Ol’Aces holding a five-point lead. Torque’s Dave Sablan nailed a long-range jumper, while Jack Lizama converted on two free throw attempts, 97-94. Ol’Aces guard Shan Seman then missed three of four charity attempts, but the Ol’Aces managed to keep the lead as Dan Barcinas went 2-for-2 from the line to prevent Michelob from tying the game. Dexter Mendiola then hit a layup for Torque and Dexter Dillay responded with a layup to seal the game for Ol’Aces.

Barcinas and Lizama led the Ol’Aces with 22 and 21 points, while Ogumoro and Seman finished with 16 and 15 points. Forward Mel Tagabuel also pumped in 12 points.

Sablan led Torque with 29 points while Ed Diaz and Hocog finished with 23 and 16 points.

The semifinals will be played tonight with sister teams Ol’Aces and Bud Light-Toyota Tundra battling at 7pm, and No. 2 Bud Ice-SaipanCell Hoopaholics taking on Nissan at 8:30pm. The winners will move on to a best-of-three championship series while the losers will play for third place.

First Game
MARPAC-Titans 77 – Estolas 21, Aguon 19, Wesley 10, Peters 9, Palacios 7, Joyner 5, Deleon Guerrero 2, Quitugua 2, Fitial 2.
Bacardi-Golden Oldies 64 – Brostrom 16, Berline 12, Punzalan 10, Raho 9, Espinosa 7, Muna 4, MacDuff 3, Warfield 3.
Scoring by quarters: 20-14, 35-26, 59-40, 77-64.
Referees: Jess Pacheco and Dado Vistal.

Second Game
O’Douls-Ol’Aces 102 – Barcinas 22, Lizama 21, Ogumoro 16, Seman 15, Tagabuel 12, Dillay 6, Kapileo 5, Iguel 5.
Michelob-Torque 98 – D. Sablan 29, Diaz 23, Hocog 16, Mendiola 7, Kalen 7, Norita 6, Reyes 6, M. Sablan 4.
Scoring by quarters: 23-23, 45-43, 75-65, 102-98.
Referees: Arnold Mesa and Noel Delos Santos.