Ursais’s 31 pts power Pirates past Diamonds – Matar Warriors, K-2 triumph

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KUWAIT CITY, May 25: Parrel Ursais scored 31 points as CIC Pirates blew things open in the second half en route to their first inter-company game win, 91-73 against Brown Diamonds Friday as the 6th Season PBLK inter-company basketball conference continues at the Hawally Disabled Sports Club.

Richard Beltran also contributed 23 points to the win while Placino knocked in 11 to seal the win. Pirates jumped to an early lead in the opening half on the backs of Ursais and Beltran who alternated in the barrages to script a 43-35 first half run.

Beltran made a game-high four 3-pointers as the Pirates squad rallied from behind in the second round to clinch their crucial second victory in as many weeks. Pirates had the final 11 points of the third quarter, including two quick 3s from Lapinas to help push ahead in a game that it led by 8 points in the final moments of the first half.

The opening half of the game belonged to Pirates with Ursais almost singlehandedly leading a first quarter rampage, scorching the opposition hoop to score 8 of his side’s 27 points in the round.

Richard Beltran and Nikki Faz accounted for the remaining ten points, helping open a 17-point lead in the round, 27-10. But Brown Diamond’s first quarter run was more of a collective effort with Jake Era leading the charge with 6 out of 10 points in the round.

Both sides were unstoppable in the early moments of the second round but as the round wore on, the Brown Diamond coach, seeing a defense lapse, called a quick timeout then followed that with a substitution that saw his side’s defense beefed up in the face of surging barrages coming from Beltran and Ursais.

The first five minutes of the round saw a Jake shot from outside the paint to hand the Diamond some 3 go-ahead points to claw back their deficit as Kyong and Miles mounted ferocious attacks on the opposition’s defense to bring the Diamonds up.

With the tit-for-tat exchanges continuing and Diamonds trailing by eight points, Placino, receiving a pass from Beltran, lobbed the ball from behind the arc for a three pointer, then another three in the next minute to send Pirates steaming ahead, at the close of the third.

The final quarter saw the ball crisscrossing the court in both directions, Ursais extending Diamonds’ lead in the final stretch with two successful free throws, and then hitting a jumper from the foul line. After a turnover by Diamonds, Beltran hit a deep 3-pointer that sent his side’s scores edging up, sending the crowd wild.

But Miles’ long range 3-pointer after a Diamond timeout quieted the crowd, but only for a minute because Ursais made a 3-pointer from the right side, Beltran followed a Diamonds’ miss with a jumper to make the scores 91-73  for Pirates at the buzzer.

Meanwhile, Matar Warriors beat Al Nasser 83-70 in the next inter-company game whilst the Pearl Clinic lost 60-65 to K-2 in a 35+ Superfathers division game.

By Iddris Seidu

Arab Times Staff

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