KUWAIT CITY, July 24: Defending champions Fil-AM, determined to cling on to the title, got off to a rocky start, as they struggled to dominate an equally determined Apolo Realtors Friday, to set up a championship appearance as the ongoing PABAK/Western Union 25th Conference Tournament taking place at the Hawally Disabled Sports Club enters its final week with the championship scheduled for next Friday.

Fil-Am 66, Apolo Realtors 55
Meeting in the semis for the first time, Fil-Am and the Apolo Realtors who dished out a shocking quarter final defeat to Jade Garden Restaurant and sent them packing, fought a close and exciting contest with neither team having a decided advantage over the other in the first quarter; but the Fil-Am boys, on the combined efforts of Henry Collasos, Chris Ingal, Jeff Fajardo, Eric Barbieto and Carl Lopez, managed to outgun Apolo Realtors’ dangerous trio Vince Vidal, Arvin Piscasio and Leo Reyes, to finish the first quarter ahead 12-11.
It was the Realtors’ turn in the second quarter which saw Arvin, Bernard Carino, Shane Coppin and Joe Casuga outrun the Fil-AM boys to overtake them after the halftime break, ending the quarter with an aggregate 26-23 lead.
The two squads traded baskets in the third with Fil-Am’s Alesna, Rustia, Luna, Julius and Lopez pushing forward to barely edge the Realtors, ending with an aggregate score of 51-48 in their favor.

The Realtors marked out some Fil-Am notables for most of the fourth and final quarter and got what was supposed to be a boost when the latter’s slotman Jeffrey Fajardo was tagged for his fifth and final foul, but could not press their seeming advantage in the face of a last ditch defense beef up by Fil-Am, and instead committed several miscues that allowed the Fil-Am to stretch their lead to double digits 66-50 sparked by Alesna’s bold forays inside the paint, with Rustia and Lopez joining the fray; the lead was trimmed to 11 through a hit from behind the arc by Apolo Realtors’ Leo Reyes shortly before time expired to signal the end of the game.
Fil-Am thus managed to successfully put the cuffs on the usually high scoring Joe Casuga who, despite scoring just 3 measly points, used the opportunity to set up scoring chances for his teammates.
Thommy Collasos led Fil-Am to the win with 16 points, including 8 straight just before fouling out in the closing minutes of the game, with Mel Erlano, Carl Lopez, and Eric Barbieto adding 12, 10 and 8 apiece to clinch the 66-55 final score line.
Joe Casuga shot 12 in a losing effort for Apolo Realtors with Vince Vidal making 10 while Arvin Piscasio netted 7 in the Realtors’ losing efforts.

Mighty Razcals 75, Flipside 57
After their improbable win over KalexCo in the quarterfinals in which they dug themselves out of a deep hole, and overhauled an 18-point deficit in the final half of the fourth quarter en route to victory, the Mighty Razcals positioned themselves for the ultimate trophy by blunting the once all-conquering Flipside squad.
The two squads fought on even terms from the opening toss, where Razcals’ Ruel Gaspar led his team mates on a boot-for-boot match against Jimmy Carandong and his Flipside boys and trading baskets back and forth, leading to a first quarter 15-15 standoff.
It was the same scenario in the second with Mark Inton, the hero of Mighty Razcals’ win over KalexCo, Willen Tollentino, Gilbert Reinoso, Gerry and Dindo battling the Flipside’s Jeff Awidz, Dado, Zaldy Kempis and Primero, with the latter nosing ahead 12-10 for a 27-25 halftime lead.
An 8-0 run, mostly on conversions from turnovers on several miscues on the part of Flipside allowed Mighty Razcals to post a six-point 33-27 cushion which they fiercely held on to and defended, despite spirited attempts by the former to overhaul it, with Rene, Gilbert, and Jake joining hands to keep the opponent at bay.
The Razcals went on to win the game-virtually, from the stripe where they made most out of their opportunities, making a higher percentage of free throw against that of the Flipside.
Ruel Gaspar delivered 15 markers with Tollentino adding 9, Gerry Tan 8, and Michael Del Pilar 7 including five straight from the 15-ft line in the dying minutes of the game that finally ended 75-57 in Mighty Razcals’ favor.
Chito Primero paced the Arrows with 16 while Dado had 11 and Rommy 9 points.

Marina FM88.8 46, Ali Abdul-Wahab 42
After a not-so-impressive performance in the initial stages of the tournament, the Marina FM boys got their act together in time to earn passage to the finals in the Inter-Company Division and the chance to avenge an embarrassing defeat suffered one time at the hands of Ali Abdul-Wahab.
Despite fielding a full complement and enjoying a ceiling advantage with their twin towers in Jose Eclipse and Jeff Jacinto and high-scoring Robert De La Cruz didn’t always have their way against the plucky and smaller Marina FM Radio boys, who led them most of the way in the early part of the game, going behind the solid performance of Flaviano Ramirez with help from Willen Tolentino, Ryan Patio and Dindo Bernante for an 13-11 first quarter lead.
After a jumper by Jody from the left wing, Abdul-Wahab came storming back in the second quarter, with Rommel Payumo, Allan Yap, Glen Cruz and Erwin Florentino taking turns at scoring, outhitting Marina in a 22-14 run to take a 37-32 lead at halftime.
Both squads finished the third quarter dead even at 20-20 before Marina’s hulking John Rodriguez started to assert himself in the paint, while Eclipse, Tolentino and Patio took care of the perimeter while clamping down of defense en route to a comfortable 46-42 win at the buzzer.
Marin’s Flaviano Ramirez led the way in scoring with 18 buckets while Reyes added 11, Jeff 8 and Hanix Vadezco 6 points.
Allan Yap scored 14, Rommel 9 and Cruz 7 points in Abdul-Wahab’s losing cause.

K.S.Pico 48, Al-Mansouri / Berksmen 39
The galant K.S. Pico boys barely broke sweat in their win over Al-Mansouri / Berksmen in the third semifinal match, breaking the game after 30-23 first half, into a 41-33 bubble in the third and turned on the heat further in the fourth quarter en route to a comfortable 48-39 win that was anything but a semifinal game.
Pico’s Allen Adorado and Nico Lagarde delivered a combined 31 points with Garry Loyola making 14 and Nelmar Alanan 12 to seal their 48-39 win over the Al-Masouri / Berksmen.
Marvin Sumague shot 14, Nato Cruz 8 and the usually high-scoring Mike Sumague 7 points in the Berksmen’s losing case.

Apolo Saints 62, Pinoy Trip Restaurant 44
Apolo Saints got double digit outputs from grizzled veterans Allan Yap, Martin Vidal, Jaime Perdido and Chris Liangko that lifted them past Pinoy Restaurant to book a ticket to the championship finals next Friday with a 62-44 score line in their favor.
Ninoy Guiwa and Bernard Carino knocked in 12 apiece with Martin hitting 10 in their winning effort.
Clenn Frio scored a game-high 19, Martin Prats 13 and Darrel Baroazi 8 points in a losing effort for Pinoy Trip Restaurant.

Illocano Warriors 61, Al-Maidan / Club X 51
Illocano Warriors built an early 28-18 cushion after the first two quarters of play in their game five semis match against Al-Maidan / Club X and spent the rest of the game warding off a furious fight-back by the Club X boys.
Illocano’s Juni De La Cruz, Freddie Eugenio and Angel Rillo led the scoring in the first quarter, while Ronnie Satas and Ramirez took charge in the second to help build the 10-points cushion and the quartet combined to help hold off Al-Maida/Cub X’s charge the rest of the way en route to the 61-51 win.
Freddie Eugenio shot 22 with Angel Rillo and Ronnie Satas adding 18 and 11 apiece in Illocano’s victory.
Al-Maidan had two players in double figures with Choy Mico making 16 and Ricki Matuti 13 points. Illocano Warriors thus advance to the championships on Friday.

Mario’s Restaurant 68, Sapupo Retro 62
Mario’s Restaurant clinched the last finals slot in a cliffhanger win over undermanned Sapupo Retro in the seventh and last semis clash in the group; the latter missing high-scoring duo Emil Azucena and Lou Jay Uy who are on holiday.
But despite being shorthanded and the usually reliable Mandy Astronomo having quite a good game, the rest of the team, notably Abet Ilocto and Hamed Hakim, stepped up to fill the slack and almost pulled off the improbable but for unlucky breaks that went against them; they still had every reason to hold their heads high even in defeat for playing their hearts out.
June Mumbo and Rommy Navaro led Mario’s Restaurant to the close 68-62 win, bagging 12 and 11 points each while Hamed Hakim and Edwin Cinco paced Sapupo with 16 and 12 points apiece.
The PABAK/Western Union 25th Conference Tournament under the able management of Rod Cerezo and his team of officials is made possible by the kind sponsorship of Western Union Money Transfer, Natasha Cargo, Kabayan Corner, Gulf Air, Orbit-Showtime Network, Century Properties and Mais Alghanim Restaurant.