DPS guns down P&S, Labor still perfect

The Department of Public Safety Enforcers dominated and won their third game of the season Wednesday night in the 2006 Inter-Government Basketball League, while Department of Labor kept its perfect record intact without even breaking a sweat.

The Labor cagers were itching to deposit their fourth straight win in as many games, and did so with ease as the team picked up a forfeit win over the Legislature Lawmakers, who dropped to 2-3.

The Enforcers, meanwhile, had their way against Procurement and Supply and improved to 3-1 with an easy 99-80 victory.

DPS ran on all cylinders at the get-go and built a double-digit lead in a snap of their fingers. Oscar Sablan and Joe Ito each pumped in six points in the first 10 minutes and while the Enforcers’ offense was strong, their defense was even better as the team limited P&S to just four field goals to take a 22-8 lead.

P&S finally found a way to penetrate the DPS defense and put up a stronger push in the second quarter. Edgar Pangelinan caught fire and drilled four shots from long range and Mike Guerrero knocked in another triple plus two field goals as the two took credit for all but two of the team’s 21 points.

Despite the spark, P&S still trailed by a mile as DPS managed to outscore their opponents again and head into the break ahead by 20 points, 49-29.

The two teams matched each other well in the third quarter, and just when it seemed DPS was going to run away with the win, P&S came storming back.

Refusing to throw in the towel, P&S put up a furious attack at the start of the payoff period. Guerrero and Ray Takai each connected from long distance and Pangelinan buried another two triples to spearhead an 18-6 run in the first four minutes to cut the deficit down to just 10 points, 71-81.

Unfortunately for P&S, they weren’t able to put up much of a threat after that as the Enforcers recovered and held their opponents to just nine points the rest of the way, while punching in 18 points to their corner.

Ito led DPS with 20 points, while Ben Peliseman and Jake Celes finished with 17 and 16 points. Sablan and cage belle Connie Camacho also fired 13 points, with Camacho hitting three triples.

Pangelinan led P&S with a game-high 33 points with six 3-pointers, while Guerrero finished with 20 points.

DPS 99 – Ito 20, Peliseman 17, Celes 16, Sablan 13, C. Camacho 13, Saralu 8, P. Camacho 7, Kaipat 3, Manglona 2.
P&S 80 – E. Pangelinan 33, M. Guerrero 20, Takai 9, Muna 8, Tudela 6, T. Guerrero 2, G. Pangelinan 2.
Scoring by quarters: 22-8, 49-29, 75-53, 99-80.
Referees: Jess Pabula and Jess Pacheco.