Toyota Tundra cruises to pennant

Bud Light-Toyota Tundra secured the pennant championship of the 2005 Budweiser Cup BANMI Island-wide Basketball League after routing a disorganized Bud Ice-Hoopaholics/Saipancell squad, 95-81, Monday night at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

Seeing action in the second game, Toyota (12-2) seized the momentum early and never letup against an out of sync Hoops team (10-3) that struggled early but was still fortunate to be down by just five points, 20-25, after a quarter of play.

Unfortunately for the Saipancell-backed team, things would go from bad to worse in the second quarter, as Toyota players kicked their defensive intensity up several notches and limited Hoops to 12 points, while scoring the same number of points they did in the first quarter to take a commanding 50-32 lead at the break.

Hoops’ spotty offense, which regressed to one-on-one forays to the basket rather than the usual methodical set plays, seemed to have exasperated coach Rufino Aguon so much that he was seen walking out of the gym with still a couple of minutes left before intermission.

Aguon’s unexpected exit seemed to fire up his players as they greeted the start of the second half with more energy and sliced Toyota’s lead to manageable proportions.

Alarmed by Hoops’ sudden surge, which at one point cut their lead to 11 points, Toyota went to its bread and better and dumped the ball to Mr. Automatic, center Abong Camacho, who strung up consecutive baskets inside to stem the rally.

The 6’2” lefty went on to punish Hoops’ big men with 10 points in the third, as Toyota continued to lord it over their younger opponents and entered the fourth and final quarter ahead 71-53.

The final 10 minutes of the ballgame would’ve been garbage time already if Hoops wasn’t playing as the team continued to show its fighting spirit even though it was down by a ton of points. Sivas Awes and Mel Manibusan unloaded a bulk of their points in the final canto, best exemplifying this never-say-die attitude. But their efforts were all for naught as Toyota blazed toward the 14-point victory.

Playmaker Elias Ranagamar led the way for Toyota with 24 points, while Camacho and silky smooth forward Taj Van Buren added 22 and 15 points, respectively.

Twin towers Awes and Manibusan paced Hoops’ losing cause with 16 and 12 points, while forward Jeremy Sablan chipped in 14 markers.

In the first game, Toyota’s sister team, O’Douls-Ol’Aces improved its chances of entering the Magic Six when it waylaid Michelob-Torque, 124-108.

It was not an easy win though as Ol’Aces had to overcome as much as a 26-point deficit before catching fire in the final five minutes to improve its win-loss mark to 6-7. The loss dropped Michelob 1 1/2 games behind O’Douls at 4-6.

First Game

O’Douls-Ol’Aces 124 – Barcinas 31, Aranda 23, Seman 23, Ogumoro 22, Lizama 14, Tagabuel 6, L. Iguel 4, Kapileo 2.

Michelob-Torque 108 – Sablan 32, E. Diaz 27m Ayuyu 18, Norita 13, Mendiola 9, Hocog 9.

Scoring by quarters: 16-37, 56-58, 86-86, 124-108.

Referees: Arnold Mesa and Noel Delos Santos.

Second Game

Bud Light-Toyota 95 – Rangamar 24, Camacho 22, Van Buren 15, Peter 11, Celes 8, Saralu 6, Iginoef 5, Renguul 4.

Bud Ice-Hoopaholics 81 – Awes 16, Sablan 14, Manibusan 12, Sablan 12, Diaz 7, Fejeran 7, Garcia 5, Villacrusis 4, Lee 2, Mendiola 2.

Scoring by quarters: 25-20, 50-32, 71-53, 95-81.

Referees: Dado Vistal and Jess Pacheco.