Hyatt stuns defending champions

Defending champion Aqua Resort Club suffered its first loss of the ongoing 5th Annual Mobil Oil Mariana Islands Co-ed Basketball League, while McDonald’s needed an extra period to level its win-loss record Tuesday night at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

In the opener, guard Ed Arriola caught fire and kept his Hyatt Regency Saipan squad in striking distance before leading them on a sizzling run in crunch time to beat ARC, 68-55.

A strong offensive display by Bogs Dayrit put ARC up 18-10 after the first 10 minutes of play, but the duo of Arriola and Leo Itaas would return the favor and heat up the net in the second period to put Hyatt ahead, 33-30, at the break.

Hyatt then went cold and scored only 10 points in the third stanza, as ARC regained the upper hand and took a 45-43 spread into the fourth and final quarter.

That’s when Arriola’s scoring spree kicked into a higher gear as he pumped in another 10 points, while Mike Umali punched in seven to lead Hyatt on a 25-10 run that left ARC stunned for the first time in over a year.

Arriola finished with a game-high 27 points, while Umali and Itaas contributed 14 points apiece to lead Hyatt.

Dayrit and Mike Sorema paced ARC with 16 and 14 points.

In the second game, McDonald’s fought back after trailing in the first three periods to edge Commonwealth Utilities Corp. in overtime, 70-67.

Things were going in the right direction for CUC with George Poquiz and Oscar Sablan having their way offensively and McDonald’s struggling to execute on both ends of the floor.

CUC led 51-46 with a period remaining before McDonald’s put up a desperation attack, one good enough to force extra period, 64-64.

McDonald’s then outscored CUC 6-3 in overtime to leave with the win.

Michael Achas led all scorers with 25 points, while Francis Rebuyon and William Upone finished with 16 and 13 points for McDonald’s, who now sports a 2-2 win-loss card.

Sablan led CUC with 20 points, while Poquiz scattered 16 points in the loss.

FIRST GAME

Hyatt 68—Arriola 27, Itaas 14, Umali 14, Villanueva 8, Gabaldon 5, Calub 2.

ARC 55—Dayrit 16, Sorema 14, Alcantara 7, Johannes 7, Bojocan 6, Arellano 4, Jones 2, Javier 2.

Scoring by quarters: 10-18, 33-30, 43-45, 68-55.

Referees: Ray Lizama and Abner Venus.

SECOND GAME

McDonald’s 70—M Achas 25, Rebuyon 16, Upone 13, Gapuz 8, Yang 4, L. Achas 3, J. Achas 2.

CUC 67—Sablan 20, Poquiz 16, Marchades 8, Dela Cruz 7, Manibusan 6, Lebria 3, Norita 2, Laniyo 2, Marquez 2.

Scoring by quarters: 15-18, 32-37, 46-51, 64-64, 70-67 (OT).

Referees: Dado Vistal and Noel Delos Santos.