KUWAIT CITY, Sept 17: It was not a good week for the leading teams as Al Tazaj overwhelmed Hilton Kuwait Resort 84-74 and Baroue-Boleros hammered Holiday Inn 94-84 in the final stages of the elimination round in the Filipino Basketball League (FBL)-Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP) 4th Inter-Company Conference at the Bayan Bilingual School in Jabriya, Friday. In spite of this defeat, Hilton Kuwait Resort — who suffered their only second loss in the tournament – continued to lead the standings but Holiday Inn, who had a share of second place, fell one spot when they lost their third game of the event. While the FBL teams occupied the courts in the morning session at the same venue, the afternoon action was limited to the 3rd Al Sayer Basketball League organized by Toyota Basketball Association of Kuwait (TBAK).

After last week’s games three teams — Lexus, Ghazali and Al Rai Garage — were tied in 2nd place with 5 wins and 2 losses each and the TBAK Technical Committee had to break the tie by applying the percentage average gained across all their matches to decide the lineup for the semifinals. And when the semi finals took place this Friday Spare Parts overcame Al Rai 55-46 while Lexus edged Ghazali 55-53. After these matches Spare Parts will compete against Lexus for the championship title while Al Rai and Ghazali battle for 3rd place. On the other hand, the Al Sayer event organizers have announced that they will take a break for next week to prepare for the championship finals, scheduled for Sept 30, with the time of the match to be published later in the Arab Times.

Unlike the Inter-company tournament which is played for 40 minutes actual time, the Al Sayer tournament matches see games over 40 minutes running time with the clock not being stopped during fouls or even when the ball goes out of play.This results in these matches seeing lower scores than the FBL tournament. These quality ball games are being officiated by Filipino Basketball League (FBL)-Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP) headed by Commissioner Demos Arienda along with the following group of committed office-bearers who consistently strive hard to provide deliver quality matches: James Miranda and Victoria Apostol —Time and Score Keepers, BAP Referees—Ferdie Tadena, Aries Buenaventura, George Panganiban, Toots Apostol, Baylon Tenorio and Joel Acuna — FBL President.

Al Tazaj vs Hilton Kuwait Resort
Al Tazaj showed some real class when they overwhelmed one of the best team’s this season — Hilton Kuwait Resort — after dominating the match from the start to finish to win by 84-74 points.
In the first quarter Al Tazaj were in their best form as they delivered back to back baskets through #15 Titz, #27 Cruz along with a long shot from #19 Kimjon while from the other side of the courts #8 Ivan and #18 Jerevi contributed most of the shots with Al Tazaj leading by 18-16 points at the end of the quarter.
The next quarter saw that Al Tazaj consistently show their shooting prowess through #19 Kimjon and #15 Titz while #8 Ivan and #18 Jerevi continued to receive good passes from their Hilton teammates to collect the baskets but they were kept behind by 6 points at the end of the first half as Al Tazaj led 36-30.

In the 3rd quarter, Al Tazaj kept their foot firmly on the accelerator and came up with three back to back long shots through #19 Kimjon and two from #15 Titz which tormented the struggling Hilton defense. Hilton scored through #24 Wang, #8 Ivan and #18 Jerevi but fell short of their mark which helped strengthened Al Tazaj’s lead to 12 points with the score 55-53 at the end of the third quarter.
Hilton Kuwait Resort tried as hard as they could to turn the table and take control of the match in the last 10 minutes of the ball game by putting on an extended defense that later resulted in #99 Mamaril being sent off the courts when he gained 5 fouls.

Hilton got some good baskets through #24 Wang, #8 Ivan and a long shot from #18 Jerevi but Al Tazaj made sure that they gave them a good fight to stay ahead as they come out with back to back three-pointers through #6 Soriano and #9 Payos. They also put on a good defense through #27 Cruz who was later fouled out while #9 Payos and #19 Kimjon were perfect with the free throws that gave them a 10-point 84-74 when the buzzer sounded to signal the end of the game.
Al Tazaj also took the Best Player of the Game award when it was given to #9 Payos who contributed 15 points.

Baroue-Boleros vs Holiday Inn
The initial quarter witnessed both teams in their best form with Holiday Inn compiling a good amount of points through #7 Felipe Resalde and #5 Guerrero Francisco along with a long shot from #16 Mohammed Abdulaziz.
From the other side of the bench #14 Ernest found a reply to this long shot backed by some points from #22 Ronan, #7 team captain and #16 Solomon but all this could not stop them from being behind by 20-24 points at the end of the first quarter.

The 2nd quarter saw Baroue-Boleros maintained the lead when they scored outstanding baskets from the 3-point area as they got 5 back to back long shots—one each through #14 Ernest, #53 Policarpio and #16 and two from #7 the team captain, that allowed them to retain a hold of the lead.
Holiday Inn acquired two back to back 3-point baskets from #31 Eduard Garcia but these were not sufficient to draw on level with their rivals who led 47-44 at the end of the first half.
Holiday Inn tried as hard as they could to turn the tables on their opponents but their rivals did not appear in the mood to let them do that as Baroue-Boleros put on a solid defense and also went on the attack through #16 Solomon that allowed their team captain to find the hoops along with a long shot from #16 Solomon.

Holiday Inn scored through back to back baskets from #11 Martin Prats and #7 Felipe Resalde and three long shots from #31 Eduard Garcia but they fell short in their bid to tie their opponents by the end of the 3rd quarter which ended 72-70 in favor of Baroue-Boleros.
Baroue-Boleros carried on with their game plan because they were aware that Holiday Inn were not an easy opponent. Holiday Inn put on a good defense through #11 Martin Prats that allowed them to collect some points through #7 Felipe Resalde and #16 Mohammed Abdulaziz.
The determined Baroue-Boleros squad also put on a good defense through #41 Cuevas and at the same time got some good baskets through #22 Ronan and their team captain that resulted in them taking the game by 10 points and the score 94-84.

Baroue-Boleros seem to be in their best shoes as they have won two games in a row as last week they beat Safir.
Wearing Jersey #53, Natz Policarpio of Baroue-Boleros was given the Best Player of the Game award for his all-round game as he also scored 14 points.
Initial standings
Rank Teams W L
1 Hilton Kuwait Resort 6 2
2 Kuwait Energy 5 2
3 Holiday Inn 5 3
4 Crowne Plaza 4 3
5 Baroue 4 3
6 Safir International 3 4
7 Al Tazaj 3 4
8 MOH 2 4
9 Bayan Palace 0 7

TBAK Tournament
Spare Parts vs Al Rai
Spare Parts proved that they are determined to walk home with this season’s title when they overwhelmed Al Rai after totally dominating the match.
The initial quarter saw both teams in their best shoes with the score 17-15 in favor of Spare Parts at the end of the first quarter. Spare Parts put together some brilliant baskets through #11 Alexander Cabacungan and #15 Ronald Sotero who also hit a long shot while Al Rai opened up the quarter with a 3-point shot from #26 Raymond Baligad supported by some baskets from #11 Rene Cacatian and #4 Rafael Bantique.

Spare Parts immediately pressed on the accelerator in the next quarter when they realized that Al Rai was not an easy prey. Spare Parts once again showed some real class from the 3-point territory through #2 Dennis Roxas backed by some points from #15 Ronald Sotero.
Al Rai, on the other hand, replied the 3-pointers through #69 Leomark Matutina but fell short after failing to keep a watch close on their opponents that resulted in a 10-point 32-22 lead for Spare Parts by the end of the first half.

The quarter witnessed Al Rai put on a good line of defense through #13 Noel Aquino that handed an opportunity to #12 Arlan Navarro and #4 Rafael Bantique to fill in most of the points while on the other side of the courts Spare Parts were caught by surprise and they could collect only a limited number of points as Al Rai closed to within 5 points and were behind 32-37 at the end of the third quarter.
Spare Parts’ determination and will to win resulted in a solid defense and offense through #15 Ronald Sotero that provided an easy access to the ring to #3 Jerbel Teves and #11 Alexander Cabacungan who got a lot of points along with perfect free throws from #2 Dennis Roxas and #15 Ronald Sotero.
The struggling Al Rai squad tried as hard as they could to get close and put in some good shots with #26 Raymond Baligad and #4 Rafael Bantique on the mark but time run short with the game ending in a 9-point 55-46 victory for Spare Parts.

Lexus vs Ghazali
Lexus fought for every point to outlast Ghazali by 55-53 points that put them face to face once again against Spare Parts in the championship finals.
The first quarter witnessed a low scoring game when both the teams appeared to be warming up. Lexus were ahead by 2 points with the score only 7-5 at the end of the first quarter with the few baskets coming through #6 Choy Mico and #23 Mandy Villanueva while Ghazali scored through #14 Mark Velasquez.

The next quarter saw both the teams all warmed up and it was not very long before a seesaw battle started. Ghazali showed their shooting prowess with outstanding shots from #21 Miguel Buendia and #22 Christian Sumala while from the other side of the bench #8 Gery Domingo put on a tight defense that allowed #6 Choy Mico and #15 Norie Manlapas to take their shots, including -pointers that saw both the teams level 22-22 by the end of the 2nd quarter.
A tussle for supremacy put the observers on the edge of their seats as none of the teams proved that they were an easy opponent. Ghazali put up a solid defense through #16 Markloue Sardena while #22 Christian Sumala and #21 Miguel Buendia made sure that they did not miss any shots.
Meanwhile, Lexus put in their best effort in the defense through #23 Mandy Villanueva while #9 Marlon Maguisib were perfected with the free throws but they still could not do enough as Lexus remained behind by 3 points with the score 32-29 in favor of their opponents.

Lexus came up with a game plan in the final quarter as three of their best members — #9 Marlon Maguisib, #8 Gerry Domingo and #23 Mandy Villanueva, who had contributed a substantial score – had been fouled out but this did not stop them from getting some points through #6 Choy Mico and #15 Norie Manalapas.
Ghazali leveled the scores with some good shooting from #14 Mark Velasquez, #3 Celso Rosello and a long shot from #1 Philip Posadas, who was later fouled out along with #16 Marklou Sardena, #14 Mark Velasquez and #22 Christian Sumala.
Time soon ran out for Ghazali as free throws — delivered by #6 Choy Mico and #15 Norie Manlapas— saw Lexus take the match 55-53 to take their place in the finals.

Final standings
Rank Team W L Ave
1 Spare Parts Dept 7 0
2 Lexus Garage 5 2 48%
3 Ghazali Garage 5 2 47%
4 Al-Rai Garage 5 2 43%
5 CBS-1 Mechanic 3 4
6 CBS-2 Body & Paint 1 6
7 Ahmadi Garage 1 6
8 Jahra Garage 0 7
FBL-BAP organizers would like to offer their special thanks to their major sponsor Mohamed Aba Zid – General Manager of Al Fuad Exchange.
TBAK officials would like to offer special thanks to Munir Khalifa, Assistant Manager Public Relations-Toyota Al Sayer, for supporting their event.