Blue Haus nears Masters division sweep

Blue Haus stretched its winning run to four following a 90-72 rout of Armatech in the curtain-raiser in the Masters division of the 2015 United Filipino Organization Basketball League last Wednesday at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

Blue Haus’ Junar Guiab drives against Auto Motion’s Joseph Galulu, left, and Fradel Sedillo, right, during an earlier Masters division game in the UFO caging at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium. Blue Haus holds a 4-0 record in the six-team league. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

The win moved Blue Haus one victory away from sweeping the regular season of the six-team league. It will play its last game tomorrow against second-running LBT Appraisal (3-1) at 6:30pm. Armatech, which fell to a 2-2 slate for third place, also has one more game left and will collide against the Old’Aces on Wednesday.

The Old’Aces barged into the win column after a 0-2 start as they bagged a similar easy win against Graphics/Star 6 in the second game, 65-45, last Wednesday. The Old’Aces will challenge Auto Motion (2-2) first this Saturday before meeting Armatech for their final regular season assignment. Graphics/Star 6 is done for the season and finished last after failing to win a single match in five games.

While Graphics/Star 6 is at the cellar, Blue Haus sealed the top spot after dominating Armatech. Edsel Mendoza and Tony Diaz teamed up in the lopsided win, scoring 23 points each, while Edwin Santos and Ernie Moises backed them up, adding 13 and 12, respectively,

Mendoza knocked in two early triples, while Emir Abuan and Moises drilled one trey each, and Diaz chipped in 5 points to lift Blue Haus to an early double-digit lead after the first period, 27-14.

Blue Haus increased the advantage in the last three quarters with Mendoza and company still on target, while only James Abuy countered for Armatech.

In the second game, Elias Rangamar sizzled for 24 points to power the Old’Aces to their first win.

The Old’Aces led from start to finish, as they held Graphics/Star 6 to single-digit scoring in the first two periods (7 and 8 points). Rangamar, who made only one field goal in the first frame, registered 6 in the second, turning a 13-7 advantage to a 27-15 halftime edge. He went on to have a strong finish, firing 12 points in the fourth canto.

Bryan Manabat was the only other Old’Aces player to break into double figures with his 10 points, while Darwin Gonzales also had 10 markers and was the lone player on Graphics/Star 6’ side to score in twin digits.

First Game
Blue Haus 90 – Mendoza 23, Diaz 23, Santos 13, Moises 12, Guiab 6, Abuan 5, Fernandez 4, Palacios 2.

Armatech 72 – Abuy 17, Berline 13, Poquiz 9, Gabaldon 8, Moreno 7, Malasarte 6, Tolentino 4, Montano 4, Tobias 2.

Scoring by quarters: 27-14, 49-33, 70-55, 90-72.

Second Game
Old’Aces 65 – Rangamar 24, Manabat 10, Diaz 8, Luzama 6, Rogolifoi 5, Stoll 4, Fitial 4, Renguul 4.

Graphics/Star 6 45 – Gonzales 10, S. Ebuen 7, Abadilla 6, O. Ebuen 5, De Jesus 5, Bautista 4, Garcia 4, Tibayan 4.

Scoring by quarters: 13-7, 27-15, 41-31, 65-45.