SMJ reel in semi open title over Alsa Baso

SMJ Corp. reeled in the biggest catch of them all—the semi open championship—after they tied up Alsa Baso, 83-56, in the Win Pacific Corp. Invitational Basketball League 2024 at the Gillette Multi-Purpose Gymnasium last Sunday.

SMJ Corp., along with some veteran players from the masters championship team 670 Gravity, navigated the court with ease. They came out hunting, attacking the rim with the ferocity of a predator in deep waters.

This left Also Baso reeling and struggling to stay afloat as they were down by 13 points at the first half, 28-41. Despite three buckets from downtown, SMJ doubled it with six and back-to-back free throw conversions by Charlz Sanchez allowed them to pull away.

SMJ stayed the course from there as they rained more buckets from beyond the arc in the second half. Sharpshooter Sean Licayan, who ended the first half with a 3, revved up his reign of terror from downtown once again and opened up the second with another three. He went on to put up six from deep territory and topped it off with a field goal.

Alsa Baso’s Tony Kim, Dennis Calunsang, and Jepoy Tabora struggled to keep pace and found themselves deeper underwater as the game progressed. Toward the end, SMJ already had the game in the bag as Marl Balignasay wrapped it up with a three for an 83-56 final.

Licayan led SMJ with a game-high 20 points, while Robles put up 16, and Khristian David and Frank Ferrer scored 10 apiece.

Kim scored 18 points, while Calunsang put up 13, and Tabora had 9 markers.

For SMJ and masters championship team 670 Gravity’s coach Erwin Lumanlan, he said, “Honestly, it felt unbelievable to have both of my team in the finals, but I never lost hope in them.”

As for team captain of both teams—Jun Estolas—he said of the semi open win, “We were lucky we had a good lead early in the game and my team did a good job to control and maintain it until the final buzzer. I’m so proud of the young boys for playing like they’re veterans already, and for the veterans, they played like they’re only 21-years-old.”

He added, “Our coach did a good job rotating our players and everytime Alsa Baso cut our lead, he still did not panic. I’m very happy that we won both championships.” As he played in the masters finals just minutes before, he didn’t play that long in the semi open finals, but managed to sink in a 3. He also said it was a dream of his to play with his nephew, Eros.

“Congratulations to Alsa Baso also. Big thanks to our sponsors 670 Gravity and SMJ. Also, big thanks to my wife and kiddos for the support, to Win Pacific Corp., to boss Darwin, table officials, referees, and fans—thank you.”

With their masters division win, he said, “It was very tough for us to win, especially our opponents were taller, but teamwork in the last minutes and our defense worked out—as well as the saying ‘never say die.’ I also think that we won from good decisions from our coach to change our defense strategy.”

Results of the individual awards will be posted in the next issues of Saipan Tribune.

SMJ Corp 83 – Licayan 20, Robles 16, David 10, Ferrer 10, Suba 7, Mejarito 6, Sanchez 6, Estolas 3, Balignasay 3, Yanto 2,

Alsa Baso 56 – Kim 18, Calunsag 13, Jepoy Tabora 9, Sanchez 6, A. Tabora 4, Kintz 4, Javier 2.

Scoring by halves: 41-28, 83-56.