KUWAIT CITY, March 21: There was a change in fortunes for squads seeing action on the second playing date of the Philippine Amateur Basketball Assn-Kuwait/Western Union 23rd Conference at the Kuwait Sports Club for the Disabled in Hawally.
After their opening day debacle at the hands of a reinforced Gulf Net squad, defending Inter-Company Division champs KFC Americana rebounded with a 63-35 blowout of opening day winner Papa Johns Pizza/Fun Ahoy squad in the second game of a nine-match header Friday.
The foodmasters, using a swarming defense and a balanced scoring game anchored by Nino Castillo and the speedy backcourt tandem of Paul Silvestre and Xavier Munoz with Jeffrey Fajardo manning the post, Joel Alesna and Ryan Vallega on the wings, were on full throttle from the opening toss, racing to a 31-13 lead in the first two quarters of play and kept up the pressure the rest of the way to give the pizza boys a thorough trashing to make up for their embarrassing loss to Gulf Net last week.
Castillo was the lone foodmaster in double figures with 11. Fajardo, Silvestre, Munoz, Alesna and Vallega added 8, 8, 8, 7 and 6 points apiece. Lanky Anthony Capulong paced the pizza boys with 10 points while Jerry Masangkay, Laricson Rivera and Marvin Fabian chipped 6, 5, 5 and 5 points each.
Caboria Restaurant 59, Farwaniya Boys 41
Caboria Restaurant on the other hand, got 16 points from Henry “Skywalker” Onofre, 14 from Mark Anthony Zalavarria and 9 points from Jackson Fabellano in their 59-41 defeat of the Farwaniya Boys in the next game, atoning for their 62-72 loss to Jasmine Restaurant in their initial outing in the Pro-Leaguers Division.
Farwaniya Boys was paced by Aninon who shot 11 points with Rolly Lomboy adding 7.
Gulf Net 58, Kalexco Aluminum Extruders 43
Meanwhile, Gulf Net notched another win-this time, at the expense of the Kalexco aluminum extruders to set the early pace in the Inter-Company Division with two straight wins.
With their deep bench and superior firepower, the telecom specialists, led by Rosauro siblings Gani and Jasper, worked up just enough sweat to register a routine 58-43 win. Glen Cruz, who had a quite game in their opening day win over KFC Americana, led scoring with 13 while Jasper had 12, JB Villanueva 9 and Gani 8 points.
Veteran campaigner Rey Sison shot 14 points with Cristan Carinal adding 9 in Kalexco’s losing cause.
Fil-Am 70, Jasmine Restaurant 66
Another opening day winner that ended up with the short end of exchanges Friday was the Jasmine restaurateurs who went down 66-70 to the powerhouse Fil-Am squad in their game five meeting in the Pro-Leaguers group.
Jasmine had a fast start, with Norman Neri and Tom Kalaquian alternating with hits around the shaded lane and the perimeter as they raced to a 23-15 first quarter advantage and fought off a furious rally by Fil-Am to hold on to a slim 35-34 lead at halftime and outscored the latter 16-15 in the third quarter to barely keep their noses above water 51-49 at the end of the period.
But a 21-15 spurt on the combined efforts of Pablo Raneses, Paul Libre, Gerry Tan and Eric Barreto wiped out that slim lead as the Fil-Am squad went on to win 70-66.
Eric Barreto knocked in 21 with the resurgent Pablo Raneses and point guard Paul Libre adding 11 and 7 points respectively. Norman Neri finished with 17, Tom Kalaquian, Joe Casuga 11 and Mac2 Mariano 10 points in a losing effort for Jasmine Restaurant.
The Filipino Cargo (TFC) 78, JC Net 35
With four players hitting double figures, powerhouse TFC served notice of their title ambitions in the Pro-Leaguers group with a lopsided 78-35 mauling of the JC Net squad in their game six encounter to open their campaign in an auspicious manner.
Leaving nothing to chance despite their decided advantage in every department of the game, the TFC squad built on a 29-16 first half advantage to open the game wide open the rest of the way en route to 43-point bubble at the buzzer.
Rommel Dingson and James Galendez led TFC in scoring with 12 points apiece while El-El Enriquez and Jasper Rosauro added 11 each and Norman Rustia 9. Jumer Guinto scored 10, Rey Sison 9 and Gil Dizon 7 points in a losing effort for JC Net.
KEO Engineers 75, CSA Desert Eagle 58
The KEO engineers opened their account in the Inter-Company group with a morale-boosting 75-58 over the CSA eagles in game seven.
The two squads fought a close contest in the first two quarters with KEO holding on to a slim 29-25 advantage at the halftime break, and spent the rest of the way fending off a furious countercharge by eagles.
But a strong finishing kick on the joint effort of Dante Pagdanaganan, Edmar Sumande, Jason Manalo and Allan Villanueva enabled the engineers to break free en route to a 75-58 margin win at the buzzer.
Pagdanganan shot a game-leading 31 points in the KEO Engineers’ victory while Rommel Dingson and Erwin Florentino paced the CSA Desert Eagle with 22 and 12 points apiece.
Popeyes Restaurant 39, Shrimpy 37
In a battle of restaurateurs in the day’s opening game, Don2 Canela took to the foul line on two occasions, making one of two in the first that tied the game 37-37 with time down to a few ticks and made both when he sent to the line a second time after being fouled a split second before buzzer sounded. Keeping his nerves steady, he made both to send their entire bench and supporters delirious with joy.
Danreb Villablanca shot 15 points to lead Popeyes in scoring but it was Don2 Canela with his ice-cool demeanor on the foul line, who was the real hero. Zaldy Flores paced the losing Shrimpy squad with 16 points.
Western Union/Ilocano Warriors 56, Manila Cargo 48
In Veterans action in game eight, the Western Union/Ilocano Warriors squad held the rest of Manila Cargo’s gunners in check while allowing only Abet Ilocto to do his thing on the court on his way to score 23 points but little else from his teammates, while Dong Bartolini who shot 18 took care of caroms and covered the keyhole area, Juancho Ang who added 10 helped out in defense, along with Arnel Magsino, and Edison Abajero who also added 5 points apiece in the Warriors’ 56-48 win.
Club X 61, Wataniya Airways 59
Defending Veterans Division champs Club X had four players in double figures in their hardfought 61-59 win over Wataniya Airways in the day’s final game. Choy Mico shot 16, Ricky Matute 12, Boying Ramirez 11 and Jhune Cainglet 10 points in Club X’s victory. Jojo Abordo paced Wataniya Airways with 16 points while Roy Gorriceta, Kume De Guzman and James Carillo chipped in 11, 11 and 9 points respectively.
The PABAK/Western Union 23rd Conference is co-sponsored by Western Express Cargo, Kabayan Corner, Mais Alganim Restaurant, Orbit/Showtime and UAE Exchange.