Blue Haus escapes Long Shot, 73-68

Blue Haus escaped the rallying clutches of Long Shot, 73-68, in the masters division of the Inaugural SMEC-SMLEC Invitational Basketball Tournament 2023 last Wednesday night at the Gualo Rai Basketball Court.

After a more than lackluster effort in the first quarter, 6-22, by Long Shot, it seemed like the team was true to its name for a comeback, but they turned things around in the second quarter as their offense started to warm up.

Blue Haus basically had an easy time in the first quarter as Long Shot fumbled their way to the basket, with center Marlon De Dios already scoring double digits with 10 points.

By the second quarter, however, Long Shot regrouped and tried their best to keep pace with Blue Haus. Long Shot jumped from just 6 points to 33 thanks to more accurate shots and 3-point makes by Victor Formales and Allan Chavez.

Blue Haus still had the upper hand though as their more rugged defense and sharpshooting offense carried them to a 41-33 lead heading into the third quarter.

Long Shot was not far behind yet, but they began to crumble yet again in the third quarter as Blue Haus was speedier to the basket and tougher on their defense. But Long Shot’s Angel Cubangbang’s overall 15 points edged them closer to Blue Haus in the last quarter.

Long Shot wasn’t out of it yet because in the last quarter, they pushed as close as they could for the lead, but just fell short a few points. Blue Haus’ De Dios continued to make his shots and ended with 19 points, Brendon Talania had 13 of his own, while Elmer Esdrelon scored 8.

In the second game of the night, Easy Riders defeated Socho, 65-50, in the open division.

The Easy Riders had another easy time in this game as they had a more clean and precise shooting and passing game. By the end of the third quarter, they were up by 27 points, as Frank Ferrer led the team with his 18 points.

The duo of Andrew Ashburn and De Shawn Reign assisted in their team’s winning effort with 11 and 10 points each.

Socho could not navigate the Easy Rider’s tough defense that pressured their takes at the basket, therefore had a low scoring game. It was an unlucky 7 for them as that was the most points four of their players made in the game.

First Game

Blue Haus 73 – De Dios 19, Talania 13, Barrio 12, Esdrelon 8, Santos 6, Diaz 6, Culala 4, Garcia 3, Chan 2.

Long Shot 68 – Cubangbang 15, Chavez 9, Formales 9, Villarin 9, Estolas 8, Tolentino 7, Ibajan 4, Flores 4, Nunez 2, Dela Torre 1.

Scoring by quarters: 22-6, 41-33, 63-46, 73-68.

Second Game

Easy Riders 64 – Ferrer 18, Ashburn 11, Diwa 10, Padayao 8, Directo 7, Camacho 6, Reign 4.

Socho 50 – Sambile 7, Q. Faisao 7, Guerrero 7, Jones 7, D. Faisao 5, Olopai 5, Pangelinan 5, Babauta 3, Castro 2, Hocog 2.

Scoring by quarters: 12-6, 30-19, 59-32, 64, 50.