Savemore dismantles Jacob’s Bakeshop for title

Both teams in the finals—Savemore and Jacob’s Bakeshop—dismantled the hierarchy of the Destroyers Basketball Club Invitational Basketball League 2024 as they were underdogs that defeated the Top 2 seeds.

Savemore took advantage of their finals run and bested Jacob’s Bakeshop, 73-67, last Sunday night at the Gillette Multi-Purpose Gymnasium.

It was a hotly contested game as both teams were fired up from the opening tip. Both teams’ stars and main shooters gave it their all which resulted in a close matchup throughout, and at the end of the first half, Savemore sported just a 1-point 37-36 lead.

The second half was still a back-and-forth battle for supremacy, but later, Savemore with their Big 3—Getsen Jandoc, Alex Lauron, and Daryll Foronda—began to pull away and didn’t look back. Meanwhile, Jacob’s Bakeshop’s Manuel Gatbonton and Dan Fernando were a force to be reckoned with from the 3-point line and within the paint, but the rest of the team were gassed out.

Jacob’s Bakeshop did capitalize on some Savemore turnovers to shrink the 51-57 deficit they were in to 62-61 with less than seven minutes left. They could have stacked more points as Savemore’s ball handling crumbled which gave Jacob’s Bakeshop more chances for fastbreak plays, but they could not convert.

Consequently, Savemore led again by 1 point, 64-63, with less than six minutes left, then lengthened the gap even more in the final two minutes.

Jacob’s Bakeshop had free passes once again at the free throw line, but they missed every single attempt to keep them at 63 points. Then, Savemore found themselves with more possession and took advantage to lead, 72-64 at 1:21 left.

Hail Marys were thrown up left and right by Jacob’s Bakeshop, with one open three by Gatbonton to make it 67-72, but there just wasn’t enough time left to rally even more as Jacob’s Bakeshop fell by 5 points.

Jandoc led Savemore with 21 points, while Lauron scored 14, and Foronda put up 10. On the other hand, Gatbonton had a game-high 27 markers and Fernando contributed 24.

Third place went to GMP x Yuman after they defeated Islander Rent A Car, 97-89.

Savemore coach Joel Saplan said that it’s his first time to win a championship on Saipan since he arrived here in 1998. With that, he said he felt great and happy. Their strategy, he said, was “man-to-man defense because our opponent was very good.”

With the league, the 49-year-old said, “it’s good. It’s very organized. If there’s a next season, we’re planning to defend our title.”

The season’s individual awards will be posted in the next issues of Saipan Tribune.

Savemore 73 – Jandoc 21, Lauron 14, Foronda 10, Natividad 9, Lucero 8, David 6, Macaraig 3, Movilla 2.

Jacob’s Bakeshop 67 – Gatbonton 27, Fernando 24, Bondad 5, Aycardo 5, Dominguez 2, De Guzman 2, Duque 2.

Scoring by halves: 37-36, 73-67.