CNMI Nationals win San Jose Fiesta tourney

The CNMI Men’s National Team returned from its successful participation in the San Jose Fiesta Basketball Tournament on Tinian, winning all their games in the two-day event.

The team that will be representing the CNMI in the upcoming 6th Micronesian Games next month was first tested in the opening game of the tournament, facing the Tinian Hustlers on Thursday.

Everything was clicking for the Nationals, and the team went on to post a 124-89 victory.

The National cagers had everything working for them and opened strong to grab the early lead. Mark Wallace hit a couple of triples plus four field goals and John Sablan nailed five field goals and a three-pointer to lead a well-balanced attack that resulted in a 63-49 first half lead.

The Nationals also got a taste of Jesse Manibusan’s skills during the half as the Tinian center went off for 22 points before the break.

Manibusan added 10 more markers in the second half and Ringo Reyes had the same production, but the Nationals were in a zone of their own and continued to pull away as Jeremy Winkfield connected for three bombs from long range and had 13 points in the second half to keep the Nationals going.

Wallace led the Nationals with 27 points, while Winkfield and Sablan pumped in 21 points apiece. Jeremy Sablan and Dan Barcinas also added 18 and 16 points, while Kelvin Fitial supported them with 11 points.

Manibusan paced the Hustlers with 32 points, while Reyes and Anthony Borja added 16 and 11 points.

The Nationals later faced Saipan’s Northern Youth Basketball League all stars and scored a 60-39 victory.

Wallace continued to make his presence felt in the tournament as he posted another impressive first-half performance with 13 points, but the young guns of the NYBA weren’t going down easily and trailed by just nine points, 18-27, at the break.

The NYBA crew continued to push the best they could, but in the end, the Nationals were still able to prevail and earn a ticket in the finals with the victory.

Wallace led the Nationals with 13 points, while Winkfield and Fitial had 11 and 10 points.

Jose Tumaquip and Bill Babauta led NYBA with 15 and 12 points.

The loss dropped the NYBA team to 1-1 after beating Tinian Dynasty earlier on the day. They faced the Hustlers for the right to battle the Nationals on Friday after the Hustlers also beat Dynasty on Thursday.

The Hustlers managed to get past the NYBA ballers, and set up a finals showdown with the Nationals.

Making adjustments from their first battle with the Nationals, the Tinian squad came out firing as former National cager John Santos stepped up and led a furious run.

Santos was hot from the field as he buried four 3-pointers, while Tinian got another three from Leo Pascua and one from J.R. Reyes to take a 43-36 lead at the break.

Santos continued to have the hot hand as he continued to hit the target from long range in the second half. The versatile cager nailed another five triple, but Tinian was not able to maintain its lead as the Nationals came storming back behind a stronger defensive stand.

Winkfield also stepped up his offensive push as he went off for 20 points in the final half to lead the Nationals back for an 81-70 win.

Winkfield’s 20 led the Nationals, while Fitial and Wallace had 11 points apiece. John Sablan also added 10 points.

Santos finished with 30 points, all but three coming from long distance.

The NYBA all stars went on to place third.