KUWAIT CITY, July 31: KEO Engineers’ Oca Montemayor, Jeff Luague, Chris Pascual and Gary Loyola were clearly in a distinct class of their own as they energized their team into brushing off the traditional dominance of the inter-company division by the KFC Americana food masters, by narrowly handing them a 54-52 defeat to lift the Inter-Company divisional trophy at the 4-in-one championship finals of the PABAK/Western Union 24th Conference Basketball Tournament played at the Hawally Disabled Sports Club on Friday.
The winners:
n Inter-Company Division: KEO Engineers- Champion; KFC-Americana- First Runner-up; Marina FM88.8 - 2nd Runner-up.
n Open Division: K.S. Pico - Champion; Fil-Am - First Runner-up; Apolo Realtors - 2nd Runner-up.
n Non-Leaguers Division: Apolo Saints - Champion; Mighty Razcals - First Runner-up; Flipside- 2nd Runner-up.
n Veterans Division: Mario’s Restaurant - Champion; Illocano Warriors - First Runner-up; Sapupo Retro - 2nd Runner-up.

KEO 54 vs KFC Americana 52
A huge multitude of fans were on hand to witness the grueling show down between the KFC food masters and the KEO Engineers, with the former hoping to successfully defend the divisional trophy in its custody and the latter determined to snatch it, in ten seasons of campaigning in the PABAK league, the oldest existing Filipino hoop tourney in Kuwait.
Used to dominating their opponents - KEO included - from the outset with their patented running game, a tensed KFC-Americana crew found themselves drawn into playing the engineers’ game, allowing the latter to dictate the tempo, forcing them into an awkward situation where they could not gain momentum.
The KFC squad got off to a blazing start, with veteran point-guard Reechel Javillo directing play, drawing first blood with a short jumper from the opening whistle, and then combined with Jeff Fajardo, Kiko Pascual, Xavier Munoz and Joel Alesna in outscoring the KEO Engineers’ Jeff Luague, Chris Pascual and Jason Manalac for a 14-5 first quarter lead.

The second quarter saw KEO outdistance the food masters behind the torrid shooting of the irrepressible Chris Pascual along with Randy Golocan, Allan Villanueva, Jeff Luague and Ado Prado in a 17-10 run that saw them narrow their 9 point deficit to 2 after the first half of play.
Raucous cheers from supporters of both teams kept the air festive and alive, with the KEO group comprising family members of players the loudest, but eventually quieted down and applauded the winning team.
Feeling the sting, KFC came charging back, with Fajardo, Kiko, Xavier, Jim Gensan and Paul Silvestre combining in a 20-19 blast that saw them slightly add to their lead at the end of the third quarter, but KEO chipped away at the deficit on the joint efforts of Jeff, Chris, Gary, Montemayor and Ado Prado which saw the latter nose ahead, taking a narrow 54-52 lead till the end of the game, as KFC’s game at that point started to look wobbly and uncoordinated.
Oca Montemayor top-scored for KEO with 17 with Jeff Luage and Chris Pascual securing 7 apiece, whilst Jeff Fajardo and Ryan Villega tallied 14 and 11 points apiece in the losing effort for KFC Americana who walked away as the first runners up of the Inter-Company division.

K.S. Pico 67 vs Fil-Am 55
K.S. Pico handed defending champions Fil-Am a shocking 67-55 defeat to snatch the Open Division trophy from their grips in a thriller of a game that was also tension packed. The high-octane encounter was pretty much a ding-dong affair with Pico dominating the first quarter and Fil-Am the second, with Rommel Payumo, Mark Tadlas and Richie Javillo leading the charge for the Pico squad and Norman Rustia, Pablo Reneses and Carl Lopez leading the Fil-Am boys.
K.S. Pico, however, proved their tactical superiority by rallying to take control of the game from the third to the final sound of the buzzer, winning by 67-55 outcome in their favor. Fil-Am became relegated to the second spot after that defeat.

Apolo Realtors 70 vs Al-Mansouri/Berksmen 64
In a contest for the Open Division second runner-up spot, Apolo Realtors defeated Al-Mansouri/Berksmen 70-64 to stay on the medal table.
At the end of proceedings, the Labor Attaché of the Philippines Embassy in Kuwait was on hand to dish out awards to the various deserving teams and personalities.

Apolo Saints 71 vs Mighty Razcals 69
Powered by Bernard Carino, Wisham Basmayor and Jommel Querimit, who together roped in a total of 51 points, Apolo Saints managed to defeat the Mighty Razcals by narrow 71-69 margin to lift the championship trophy in the Non-Leaguers division, and thus leaving the Razcals to content themselves with the first runner-up spot of the division after an impressive showing throughout the league and a determined performance in the finals. Jake Narvaz, Mike Del Pilar and Mark Inton paced the losing Razcals with 12, 9, 7 and 6 points apiece.

Flipside 83 vs Pinoy Trip Restaurant 68
The Flipside squad routed Pinoy Trip Restaurant 83-68 to finally clinch the second runner-up spot of the Non-Leaguers Division, in an encounter that saw each side struggle desperately to stay alive on the medal table.
Jeff Awidz, Jimmy Carandang and Roy Magallanoz each scored 10 points with Loloy Remulya, Zaldy Kempis, Dado Rapanan and Rommy Navaro contributing 7, 6, 4 and 4 points apiece.
Darrell Barola and Mark Zalavara paced the Pinoy Trip Restaurant with 13 and 11 points each, while Cris De La Cruz and Jayson Dela Cruz added 9 and 7.

Mario’s Restaurant 89 vs Ilocano Warriors 86
Mario’s Restaurant landed the Veterans Division championship trophy against the Ilocano Warriors in a high speed, tensed game that was also replete with skills, as both sides were determined to lift the trophy by giving it their all.

With Rey Bakiga drawing first blood through a long lob of the ball into the basket, the Mario restaurateurs shot into the lead, ending the first quarter 17-13 in their favor. Spurred on by their own determination and perhaps the boisterous fans’ drumming and cheering, the Warriors rallied back into the game and for the second and third quarters, scared the hopes out of the restaurateurs, by cancelling the first quarter deficit and turning the tables with a two point lead. Mario charged back into the last quarter and managed to clip the wings of the Warriors’ offense players to take control of the game and ending proceedings with a nail biting 89-86 win in their favor to lift the Veterans’ Division trophy, thus sending the Warriors to grudgingly walk away with the first runner-up trophy.
Jojo Matilas led the victor with 15 while Excel Tyra, Romy Navaro, Mario Reyes and Jeff Miles added 13, 12, 11 and 8 points each. Carlos Tan had 14 with Edison Abajero and Jun Dela Cruz tallying 10 and 7 points each for the Warriors’ losing efforts.
Sapupo Retro 59 vs Al-Maidan/ ClubX 46
Sapupo Retro beat Al-Maidan/ClubX 59-46 to bag third spot in the Veteran Division in a game played earlier in the day.

Mythical Five members of the various Divisions:
n Open: Allen Adorador, Mark Tadlas, Velloria, Tom Kalaquian, Erwin Bartolome.
n Inter-Company: Oca Monte-mayor, Jeff Luague, Jeff Fajardo, Joel Alesna, Jayvee Villanueva.
n Non-Leaguers: Shane, Carino, Narvas, Romy Navaro, Basmayor.
n Veterans: Romy Navarro, Jocel Tura, Tan Carlos, Bobit Cabale, James Carillo.
Apart from the mythical five members for the league, the following players were also named as the Most Valued Players (MVPs) in the various divisions of the league:
n League MVP, Inter-Company Division - Oca Montemayor
n League MVP, Non-Leaguers Division - Bernard Carino
n League MVP, Veterans Division - Romy Navarro
n League MVP, Open Division- Allen Adorador

Due to their outstanding performances in the Championship Finals, the following players were also adjudged to be the Most Valuable Players (MVPs) of the various divisions;
n Finals MVP, Inter-Company Division - Joel Alesna
n Finals MVP, Non-Leaguers Division - Bernard Carino
n Finals MVP, Veterans Division - Jocel Tura
n Finals MVP, Open Division - Mark Tadlas

A closing ceremony was held with Philippines Embassy officials and other distinguished guest present. Plaques, trophies and medals were handed to deserving teams, players and officials at the closing ceremony by the Labor Attaché of the Philippines Embassy, David Des Dicang and Jack Palmas, an invited guest.

In his closing remarks, the PABAK President, Rodrigo Cereso, on behalf of the Commissioner, expressed his gratitude to all players, team managers, coaches, referees, officials and sponsors for making the 24th Conference of PABAK a resounding success. “We look forward to having a more successful 25th Conference Tournament”, he added.
The PABAK organizing committee would also like to thank and acknowledge the personalities of the following companies whose support and cooperation led to the success of the recently concluded 24th Conference: The Embassy of Philippines, Western Union Money Transfer, Natasha Cargo, Kabayan Corner, Gulf Air, Orbit-Showtime Network, Century Properties, Mais Alghanim Restaurant as well as officers and members of the PABAK board.
The next season of PABAK Western Union 25th Conference Tournament kicks off on Aug 12, 2011.