Mobil, Fiesta ease past foes

 Mobil and Fiesta Resort & Spa Saipan recorded similar victories, posting double-digit winning margins against separates foes in the 3rd Annual Shirley’s Coffee Shop Invitational Basketball League last Sunday night at the Gillette Multipurpose Gymnasium.

Fiesta played in the first game and clobbered GPPC, Inc., 99-81, to extend its winning streak to four after dropping its first two matches. GPPC absorbed its fourth loss in five games.

Fiesta and GPPC had a shootout from downtown with the former having the edge in the end after canning a season-best 13 triples against the latter’s eight. Esdrelon had a bundle of those treys, making 10. The Fiesta gunner connected on more triples than two-point field goals to finish with a game-high 36 points.

Esdrelon drained a barrage of treys in the third canto, hitting five shots from beyond the arc to give Fiesta the upper hand, 67-58. Fiesta trailed at halftime, 41-46, despite getting 11 points from Brandon Talania in the second quarter. Randy Mungcal and Alex Ocampo scored 23 and 11 markers, respectively, in the first half for GPPC to threaten Fiesta. However, they went cold at the start of the second half, combining for only nine points in the third period. GPPC was held to 12 points in the third canto and was outscored by a one Fiesta player-Esdrelon, who drilled 16 markers in that quarter.

Esdrelon buried three more treys in the final canto, while Ernie Moises saved his best for last, firing 10 markers after posting only seven in the first three periods en route to Fiesta’s 18-point victory. Moises finished with 17 points, while Talania chipped in 21.

Mungcal paced GPPC with 28 markers, while Ocampo added 25.

In the second game, Mobil survived the absence of Jun Estolas and Gyles Ruluked, as Marvin Rabauliman delivered his usual A game and Ron Gamboa stepped up after a so-so performance in previous games.

Rabauliman tallied 22 points, while Gamboa contributed 20. Gamboa made 12 of his total points in the fourth period, helping Mobil maintain its distance over Wushin, while Rabauliman scored eight. Bart Demapan also finished in double figures with 12, six of them came in the final canto.

With Estolas and Ruluked missing Mobil’s sixth game, the team struggled offensively in the first period and led by only a hair, 18-17. It was back to square one after the first half, 38-all, as Wushin remained afloat behind the three triples of George Villasan in the second canto.

Mobil regrouped at the start of the second and tightened up its defense, allowing only three Wushin players to score for a 57-50 cushion. Mobil hung on to the lead in the final canto with the trio of Demapan, Rabauliman, and Gamboa teaming up on offense.

Mobil now has a 5-1 record for the solo lead in the 10-team field and one win ahead of defending champion PIC/NVM and DFS Galleria, which hold similar 4-1 slates. Wushin fell to a 2-4 mark.

First Game 

Fiesta 99 – Esdrelon 36, Talania 21, Moises 17, Berline 10, Ong 9, Salazar 4, Rabago 2.

GPPC, Inc. 81 – Mungcal 28, Ocampo 25, Sampang 14, Siega 6, A. Tagle 3, M. Tagle 2, Rivera 2, Jalandoni 1.

Scoring by quarters: 15-18, 41-46, 67-58, 99-81.

Second Game

Mobil 87 – Rabauliman 22, Gamboa 20, Jose 12, Demapan 12, Gapor 8, Bautista 8, De Guzman 5, Tavares 2.

Wushin 77 – Tobias 28, Villasan 18, Tibayan 16, O. Ebuen 10, Santos 4, De Jesus 3.

Scoring by quarters: 18-17, 38-38, 57-50, 87-77.