{"id":401205,"date":"2023-11-13T23:40:00","date_gmt":"2023-11-13T23:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=401205"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-29T14:00:00","slug":"Undefeated-A-Plus-Team-finally-ousts-Blue-Haus-for-masters-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/Undefeated-A-Plus-Team-finally-ousts-Blue-Haus-for-masters-title\/","title":{"rendered":"Undefeated A Plus Team finally ousts Blue Haus for masters title"},"content":{"rendered":"

Undefeated A Plus Team-Saipan Marine Corp. held steadfast against a worthy opponent and finally defeated archrival Blue Haus, 69-57, for the masters division championship of the Inaugural SMEC-SMLEG Invitational Basketball Tournament 2023 late last Saturday night at an action-packed Gualo Rai Basketball Court.<\/p>\n

It was crunch time for Blue Haus with just two minutes left in as they tried to make a push into A Plus Team territory\u2014who held commanding leads throughout the game. But from a 10-point, 54-44 A Plus lead, Blue Haus chopped away at it and made it 57-63 from rush plays and a three-pointer by Junar Guiab.<\/p>\n

However, A Plus tightened their defense with arms and hands flailing in the air as the ball bounced and soared from A Plus to Blue Haus players in the balls\u2019 path\u2014only to grace A Plus with more possession that they capitalized on and converted into much needed field goals.<\/p>\n

Blue Haus remained stuck at 57 points while A Plus\u2019 smooth, open plays and assists allowed them to score six more points\u2014thanks to Joel Javier, Chris Sanchez, and Tim Wesley, that established their commanding 12-point lead until the final seconds wound down.<\/p>\n

Throughout the game, A Plus\u2019 defense was their best offense as Andrew \u201cUncle Drew\u201d Ashburn, Gino Libuw, and De Shawn Reign\u2019s sheer height and bulk\u2014and fast hands rejected Blue Haus players left and right and caused an apparent tearing down of their confidence and accuracy.<\/p>\n

It was a physical game from both ends as they racked up fouls and free throws, but it was the combined A Plus\u2019 impenetrable defense and Blue Haus\u2019 lackluster offense that handed the championship to the undefeated A Plus Team.<\/p>\n

A Plus\u2019 lead scorer was speedy and sharpshooting Chris Sanchez with 20 points, while Libuw contributed mostly from 3-point range with 16, followed by Ashburn\u2019s 10 points.<\/p>\n

For Blue Haus, Guiab scored 15, while Tony Diaz had 11 markers, and Jay-R Barrios put up 9 points.<\/p>\n

A Plus head coach Edong Echavez breathed a sigh of relief after the finals as he said they finally beat Blue Haus.<\/p>\n

He said on beating them, \u201cIt\u2019s great! It\u2019s our first time to beat them.\u201d He said that this is their second time meeting them in the finals\u2014the first from another basketball league\u2014which they lost by two points. \u201cThis is a good rematch for us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Their strategy to beat them, he said, was \u201calways our defense\u2014we\u2019re undefeated because of our solid defense. That’s the key.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for what he thinks about Blue Haus, he said, \u201cThey\u2019re still the team to beat and they\u2019ll always be the team to beat.\u201d<\/p>\n

He then thanked their team\u2019s sponsors, Saipan Marine Corp. and A Plus Corp., their coaches and staff, along with the league\u2019s organizers, the Saipan Maga\u2019haga Lady Eagles Group and Saipan Magalahi Eagles Club.<\/p>\n

Blue Haus 57 \u2013 Guiab 15, T. Diaz 11, Barrios 9, E. Diaz 5, Talania 4, Santos 3, De Dios 2.<\/p>\n

A Plus Team 69 \u2013 Sanchez 20, Libuw 16, Reign 10, Wesley 8, Javier 4.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

A Plus Team, right, pose with Blue Haus after their championship game of the masters division in the Inaugural SMEC-SMLEG Invitational Basketball Tournament 2023 late last Saturday night at an action-packed Gualo Rai Basketball Court.<\/p>\n

-By LEIGH GASES
\nleigh_gases@saipantribune.com
\nREPORTER
<\/figcaption><\/figure>

<\/p>\n

A Plus Team’s Gino Libuw lets a free throw fly in the third quarter of their masters division finals game in the Inaugural SMEC-SMLEG Invitational Basketball Tournament 2023 late last Saturday night at an action-packed Gualo Rai Basketball Court. He scored 16 points for the team.<\/p>\n

-By LEIGH GASES
\nleigh_gases@saipantribune.com
\nREPORTER
<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Undefeated A Plus Team-Saipan Marine Corp. held steadfast against a worthy opponent and finally defeated…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-401205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=401205"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401205\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=401205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=401205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=401205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}