KUWAIT CITY, Oct 8: Kuwait Energy bagged the 4th Inter-Company Conference Goodwill Games Conference, organized by Filipino Basketball League (FBL)-Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP) at the Bayan Bilingual School in Jabriya, Friday, when they continued their excellent run to tame Holiday Inn 95-83 in the finals. With Holiday Inn finishing 1st runners-up, Crowne Plaza walked home with 2nd runner-up award when they outclassed Hilton Kuwait Resort 85-78 in the other game at the same venue on the same day. Meanwhile, the day also saw the opening ceremonies of two other events — the 5th Inter-Company Conference Goodwill Games Conference and the 22nd Open Championship.

These quality ballgames 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 to provide quality matches: James Miranda and Victoria Apostol —Time and Score Keeper, BAP Referees —Ferdie Tadena, Aries Buenaventura, George Panganiban, Toots Apostol, Baylon Tenorio and Joel Acuna — FBL President.
Kuwait Energy vs Holiday Inn
Kuwait Energy were in full battle gear when they came face to face with Holiday Inn in the championship finals and thumped them 95-83 after dominating the match from the start to the finish.
Kuwait Energy kicked off the first quarter with most of the baskets — inclusive of three back to back long shots — coming through #1 Willie Rasay and two from #20 Ryan Ducusin with some points from #3 Rommel Payumo.
From the other side of the courts, #31 Garcia managed to reply one of the 3 -point shots while getting some good baskets from #11 Prats and #16 Mohammad but nothing they did seemed to have any effect on Kuwait Energy as Holiday Inn fell short of their mark as the ultimate champions led 25-17 at the end of the first quarter.

The next quarter saw that Kuwait Energy meant business as they again opened up another long shot from #11 Khaled who contributed 11 points in the same quarter alone, while the struggling Holiday Inn found an answer to the 3-point shots through #11 Prats with some baskets coming from #7 Felipe.
Kuwait Energy kept pressing on the accelerator while Holiday Inn failed to keep close on their trail as the 2nd quarter finished with Kuwait Energy now 15 points ahead and the score 48-33.
Despite the big lead, Kuwait Energy were never complacent at any point and again put up a strong line of defense through #11 Khaled that provided easy access to the ring to #24 Ivan Payumo who also managed a 3-point shot while getting some good backing from #12 Edmund Mangunay.
Holiday Inn tried to tighten their defense through #16 Mohammad, backed by some fine shots from #11 Prats, #7 Felipe and a long shot from #31 Garcia, but to no avail as their efforts were not enough to match their opponent who opened the gap and went further ahead by stretching their lead to 19 points with the score 73-54 by the end of the 3rd quarter.
In the final quarter, Kuwait Energy assured their supporters that they would take the crown when they kept the lead to their liking by putting together back to back baskets, mostly from #24 Ivan Payumo and #20 Ryan Ducusin.

Holiday Inn generated some good points through #5 Guerrero, #7 Felipe, #11 Prats and #16 Mohammad but time fall short for them to recover as Kuwait Energy refused to relax their grip which handed them the title and Holiday Inn had to be content with the 1st runners-up when the game ended with Kuwait Energy easy winners by 95-83 points.
The Best Player of the Game award was given to #20 Ryan Ducusin who contributed 20 points for Kuwait Energy. Ducusin also accepted the Most Valuable Player of the finals award while the highest honour given to a player for the season- -Most Valuable Player of the 4th Inter-Company Championship — was handed to #3 Rommel Payumo, also from Kuwait Energy.
The awarding ceremony followed closely after the game with the awards going to the teams as follows:Champions — Kuwait Energy
1st runners-up — Holiday Inn, 2nd runners-up — Crowne Plaza
3rd runners-up — Hilton Kuwait Resort.
The following took the awards for the Mythical 5 — #7 Felipe, #11 Prats and #31 Garcia of Holiday Inn along with #11 Khaled and #1 Willie from Kuwait Energy.

Crowne Plaza vs Hilton
Earlier that day, Crowne Plaza walked home with the 2nd runners-up award when they overcame Hilton Kuwait Resort by 85-78 points but not before they were given a fight by the losers.
The initial quarter saw Hilton Kuwait Resort in their best form when they compiled 22 points mostly through #24 Wang and #18 Realin — who also hit a long shot — while Crowne Plaza were off to a slow start when they seems to be warming up and gathered 18 points through #45 Pangilinan and #22 Manalo.

However, it was not very long before Crowne Plaza moved up a gear and immediately swung the game to their liking when #14 Medina and #22 Manalo put together some good baskets, backed by a good defense and excellent passes from their teammates.
It seems that Hilton was caught by surprise as Crowne Plaza seemed to score at will. Hilton failed to keep up with their opponents and fell short with baskets being scored by #18 Realin and #8 Ivan that saw Crowne Plaza taking a two-point lead with the score 34-32 at the end of the first half.
This advantage kept Crowne Plaza on top of their toes as they dominated the court with extensive defensive from #45 Pangilinan and #22 Manalo that provided opportunities for #4 Gomez to deliver most of the baskets along with two back to back long shots from #5 Villanueva and #9 Arasga.

Although Hilton tried as hard as they could to once again take the lead when they replied a 3-point shot through #18 Realin with some other points from #8 Ivan, it was not enough as Crowne Plaza were now in full control of the match to stretch their lead to eight points with the score 58-50.
The last 10 minutes of the ballgame witnessed Hilton Kuwait Resort pick up their performance and collect three back to back long shots from #6 Nice and two from #18 Realin but the energetic players of the Crowne Plaza side refused to buckle under the pressure but in the process two of their premium members — #22 Manalo and #45 Pangilinan — had to leave the court when they fouled out.
This, however, did not affect the winning mode of Crowne Plaza as they had already set up a good lead through brilliant shots from #14 Medina and #8 Atong and they went on to win 85-78 when the buzzer sounded.

5th Conference
In between the two matches, the spectators were treated to the opening of two events — the 5th Inter-Company Conference and the 22nd Open Championship.
The following 10 teams have registered for the 5th Inter-Company Conference:
Shrimpy Restaurant; Al Tazaj Restaurant; Fuddruckers Restaurant; Coporia Square; Baroue; MOD (Ministry of Defense); MOH (Ministry of Health); Alghanim; Toyota Al Sayer; and defending champions Kuwait Energy.

Meanwhile, the following 7 teams have lined up for the 22nd Open Championship :
Desert Fox; 59’ers; Tropaks; newcomers Marina Volts; Kuwait Pinoy; Bench Tag; and defending champions South East Crusher.
FBL-BAP Commissioner Demos Arienda led the prayers and in his opening remarks thanked sponsor Al Fuad Exchange for their support, all the participating teams and guests. He also wished everyone good luck and safe games. The distributions of Tournament Rules and Regulations followed along with the Oath of Sportsmanship guided by Johnny Go from Toyota Al Sayer.
No event can be complete without the selection of Best Muse. In the Inter-Company competition, Ronalyn Anore from Shrimpy stood out among the three candidates, the others being from Al Tazaj — represented by Jeblyn Reyes— and Ministry of Defense (MOD) — Angel Sangabol.

Meanwhile, in the Open category, Rose Navarro from Kuwait Pinoy captured the hearts of the judges with the other two lovely ladies being Aya Sanchez and Cristabel Pangilinan from Desert Fox and Marina Volts respectively. The Fuddruckers team won the Best in Uniform award.
On the other hand, the organizers have confirmed the tentative schedule for 1st Inter-Hotel opening ceremony with the following teams competing : Crowne Plaza, Hilton Kuwait Resort, Holiday Inn-Salmiya, Movenpick-Shuwaikh, Movenpick-Al Bidaa, Ramada Hotel and Safir International. The ceremony has been scheduled Friday, 4th November, at the same arena.
Meanwhile, two games were immediately kicked off after the opening program Open Championship with Marina Volts showing they mean business by edging Desert Fox 77-74 while Shrimpy overwhelmed Fuddruckers 74-51 in the Inter-Company event.

Marina Volts vs Desert Fox
Newcomers Marina Volts showed some real class at the opening of the Open category when they outlasted Desert Fox 77-74 points when they put on a determined effort while showing great nerves.
The first quarter saw both the teams wearing their best shoes as they started off with long shots. Desert Fox opened the scoring through #10 Guro with most of the points coming from #4 Collado.
Newcomers Marina Volts showed that while it was the first time for them to participate in this tournament, they are not new to the game and replied with a 3-point shot from #13 Andy. Then came a long shot from #28 Mel Yap with another 6 points from Fahad with the first quarter ending 17-16 in favor of Desert Fox.
But it was not very long before Marina Volts pressed on the accelerator in the next quarter as they put together back to back shots from #9 Charlie, #36 Jovan, #15 Gomer and #28 Mel Yap to hit a total of 42 points by the end of the 1st half.

Although Desert Fox were caught unawares and seemed surprised by what their rivals could deliver, they managed to come up with some good baskets from #23 Intaz and #15 Barios but they fell short when they could only reach the 33-point figure with Desert Fox taking a 9-point 42-33 lead.
Marina Volts control of the match and everything was to their liking as they opened up the 3rd quarter with another long shot from #15 Gomer backed by some brilliant shooting from #28 Mel Yap.
The struggling Desert Fox squad tried to find an antidote to slow down their rivals and got in some good shots from #10 Guro and #4 Collado but the failed to catch up with their opponents. In fact, Marina Volts stretched their lead to 10 points with the 60-50 at the end of the quarter.

Desert Fox finally came up with a solid game plan in the last quarter and they extended a solid line of defense through #15 Barios that allowed #4 Collado, #9 Gutierrez and #10 Guro to penetrate the rival defense and score most of the baskets, inclusive of a 3-pointer, but ultimately they ran out of time.
Marina Volts, meanwhile, made sure that they kept the game to their liking as they were nearly perfect with their shots from the free throw line with #36 Jovan and #28 Mel Yap finding their mark to win the match by 77-74 points.
With Desert Fox closing in very fast, it seemed it was only a matter of time before they took the lead but their opponents were determined not to lose the match after having controlled most of the match. While the first three quarters belong to Marina Volts, the last quarter went the way of Desert Fox,In the end it was all a question of “too little, too late” as Marina Volts were jumping with joy at the final buzzer.
Wearing jersey #28 Mel Yap, who contributed 28 points, for Marina Volts was given the Best Player of the Game award.

Shrimpy vs Fuddruckers
Shrimpy brushed aside newcomers Fuddruckers by 23 points as the latter were all at sea with the winners dominating the match from the start to the finish to win 74-51 but Fuddruckers did not go home empty handed when they claimed the Best in Uniform award.
The initial quarter saw Shrimpy all warmed up as they scored 20 points with most of the baskets coming from #11 Surla Mario and #16 Flores Saldi, who also hit a long shot.
From the other side of the bench most of the points were scored by #1 Edu Banez but their effort was not enough to match their opponents as they totalled 9 points allowing Shrimpy to finish the quarter 20-19.
Meanwhile, Shrimpy never took things easy in the next quarter as they put up a good defense through #27 Arnel Aguilar that allowed #14 Bacani Jayson and #19 Almodevar Raniel to take clear shots at the basket.
Fuddruckers soon appeared to be struggling to get the ball in the hoops but they were still able to hit a 3-point shot through #19 Jhun Suganil. They also got some points through #1 Edu Banez but was not enough since the rival defence was too strong for them and they were kept behind 35-18 by the end of the 1st half.

Fuddruckers tried as hard as they could to level with their rivals when they set up a good defense through #27 Sarmiento Sherwin along with fine shots from #1 Edu Banez but their opponents kept their foot on the accelerator .There was some brilliant shooting from #19 Almodovar Raniel, #14 Bacani Jayson and #22 Bolactice Angel that put Shrimpy ahead by 16 points 33-49 at the end of the quarter.
Shrimpy’s team assured their supporters that victory would be theirs when in the last 10 minutes of the ballgame they displayed their shooting prowess through #16 Flores Saldi, #3 Rapiz Jay and #24 Allare Enrique who all showed a lot of class.
Fuddruckers replied through shots from #29 Gary Diaz, #32 Dongski and #1 Edu Banez but their effort was not enough to turn the tide in their favor and they accepted a 23 point 51-74 defeat when the buzzer sounded.
The Best Player of the Game award went to #24 Allare Enrique of Shrimpy.
After the successful three-man team training the organization has been holding, FBL are officiating in three other leagues:FLCCK in Reggai, Filipino Sailors Club championship in Salmiya and the ISACK-English Schools tournament.

4th Inter-Company Winners:
Champions Kuwait Energy
1st runners-up Holiday Inn
2nd runners-up Crowne Plaza
3rd runners-up Hilton Kuwait Resort
4th Conference MVP — #3 Rommel Payumo (Kuwait Energy)
MVP Finals — #20 Ryan Ducusin (Kuwait Energy)
Mythical 5
#7 Felipe — Holiday Inn
#11 Prats — Holiday Inn
#31 Garcia — Holiday Inn
#11 Khaled — Kuwait Energy
#1 Willy — Kuwait Energy
FBL-BAP organizers would like to offer their special thanks to their major sponsor Mohamed Aba Zid — General Manager of Al Fuad Exchange.