Ezekiel survives, Nehemiah cruises

Ezekiel had just enough firepower to pull through, while Nehemiah had more than enough to cruise to victory as action in the Filipino Community Church Inaugural Inter-color Basketball League continued Tuesday night.

In the opener, Ezekiel pressed the right buttons in the final minutes against Caleb to leave with an 87-79 victory.

Ezekiel was up by double digits in the fourth quarter when Caleb put on a strong comeback. Caleb hit two triples late in the game, the second by Danny Illahi with 51 seconds that cut the deficit to just three points, 74-77.

It was foul time for Caleb as the team did its best to send Ezekiel cagers to the line and stop time from ticking away. The scheme worked as Ezekiel went 4-for-8 from the stripe in the next 18 seconds. Caleb’s Danny Dayrit hit a free throw and later Orlan Tengco hit two with 27 seconds left to pull Caleb to within a field goal, 79-81.

That was as close as Caleb came as Ezekiel finished the game on a 6-0 run for the victory.

It was a tight game from the beginning, with the two teams evened at 16-16 after the first period and Ezekiel holding just a six-point edge at halftime, 36-30. The lead increased to eight points after three quarters, 52-44.

Rocyl Ritual led Ezekiel with 26 points, while Marlon De Dios finished with 21 points. Ronald Carreon and Bert Sanciangco also contributed 14 points apiece, while Gilbert Miranda had 10 points.

Illahi paced Cleb with 24 points, while Dayrit and Tengco pumped in 20 and 18 points.

In the second game, Nehemiah had six players score in double figures as the team ran away with a 107-75 victory over Joshua.

Nehemiah dominated from the opening tip, with Mark Llagas fueling a strong start with 12 points. Llagas was not the only Nehemiah cager having a good start and the team was able to take a 30-14 lead after just the first period of play.

Nehemiah still led by 16 points at the break, 51-35, and stretched its lead to 22 points at the end of the third period, 76-54.

The team then hit the cruise control button and strolled to the easy win.

Llagas finished with 20 points, while Erick Lansangan and Melvin Capalad supported strong with 17 points apiece. Aaron Untalan and Johnny Badiles also added 16 points apiece, while Jon Artates had 13 points.

John Negano and Fernan Galvan led Joshua with 16 points apiece, while Bitoy Musni contributed 11 points.

First Game
Ezekiel 87 – Ritual 26, De Dios 21, Carreon 14, Sanciangco 14, Miranda 10, Formales 2.
Caleb 79 – Illahi 24, Dayrit 20, Tengco 18, Teofisto 13, Samson 2, Miraflor 2.
Scoring by quarters: 16-16, 36-30, 52-44, 87-79.
Referees: Gilbert Espinosa and Eric Artillaga.

Second Game
Nehemiah 107 – Llagas 20, Lansangan 17, Capalad 17, Untalan 16, Badiles 16, Artates 13, Licop 5, pascual 3.
Joshua 75 – Galvan 16, Negano 16, Musni 11, E. Cabaddu 8, Espiritu 8, Tapia 6, Ayeras 6, G. Cabaddu 4.
Scoring by quarters: 30-14, 51-35, 76-54, 107-75.
Referees: Eric Artillaga and Gilbert Espinosa.