BoG and Legislature in close victories

Continuing on the week’s theme of cardiac games, Legislature and Bank of Guam Express nosed out Tinian and Department of Public Safety in Wednesday night’s action in the 2008 PTI Inter-Government Business Basketball League at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

In the first game, the boys from Capital Hill pounced on an undermanned Tinian Bombers team, 96-93.

Legislature led early and took a 23-16 spread into the second half only to watch Tinian roar back and enter halftime with a 44-41 advantage.

The seesaw battle carried over into the second half with Legislature taking back the driver’s seat, 70-67, after three full quarters of play.

Legislature, however, wore down Tinian in the payoff period as they nursed their lead until the final seconds for the three-point victory.

The win was the first in four games for Legislature, while the loss evened Tinian’s record to 2-2.

Joel Punzalan paced Legislature with 24 points, while pint-sized Ray Duenas and his son, Ernest, added 22 and 20, respectively.

Ton Borja and Frank Hocog fired 25 and 20 in Tinian’s losing cause.

In the second game, BoG scored its second straight victory but only after surviving a furious comeback by DPS, 90-88.

After leading 21-18 in the first minutes of the ballgame, BoG buried a lackadaisical DPS five with an avalanche of points in the second to open up a 43-35 advantage into intermission.

It would go from bad to worse for DPS in the third, as BoG continued to hit their outside shots and score on a ton on fastbreak plays to take a 68-53 lead into the fourth and final quarter.

But DPS had other plans and in the fourth dropped a 35-22 bomb in the final 10 minutes to make the game interesting.

James Villacrusis paced BoG with 27 points, while Charlie Peters and Randy Pelisaman added 13 apiece in the win.

Elias “Junior” Saralu scored game-high 33 points for DPS, including 16 in their fourth-quarter uprising.

The win boosted BoG’s record to 4-1, while DPS is still searching for its first win in three games.

Last Monday, BoG relied on a rare 3-pointer by James Lee to beat Department of Corrections, 93-91, while Department of Community and Cultural Affairs rallied back from a 21-point deficit to nip Autonomous, 95-94.

Legislature 96 – Punzalan 24, R. Duenas 22, E. Duenas 20, Lizama 14, Sanchez 10, Guinto 6, Cabrera 5, Deleon Guerrero 2.

Tinian 93 – Borja 25, Hocog 20, Villagomez 18, Santos 15, Stole 10, Morgan 6.

Scoring by quarters: 23-16, 41-44, 70-67, 96-93.

Referees: Arnold Mesa and Gilbert Espinosa.

BoG Express 90 – Villacrusis 27, Peters 13, Pelisamen 13, G. Palacios 12, Taisacan 10, D. Palacios 7, Phillip 4, Agulto 2, Imperial 2.

DPS 88 – Saralu 33, Ito 17, Tawanpiy 13, Kaipat 8, Kaku 8, Warfield 2, Regis 2.

Scoring by quarters: 21-18, 43-35, 68-53, 90-88.

Referees: Michael White and Noel Delos Santos.