Ol’Aces take Game 1, demolish Advance

The first round goes to Freddie Pelisamen and powerhouse Ol’Aces after they beat pennant champions Advance X-Terminators black and blue in the opener of the best-of-three championship of the Inaugural FMI Inter-Color Basketball League Thursday night at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

Ol’Aces crushed their first round tormentors from the get-go and sustained it until the final buzzer with Pelisamen, long the most dominant offensive force in the CNMI, scoring a season-high 51 points in the team’s 129-93 demolition job of the Bug Busters.

Pelisamen didn’t waste any time on taking over Game 1 of the finals, as the cat-quick 5’9” swingman punctured the hoop for 15 points in the first quarter.

Surprisingly, he wasn’t alone in doing a number on Advance X-Terminators as guard Jericho Cruz also erupted for 14 of his own as Ol’Aces took a commanding 38-22 lead after the first 10 minutes of play.

\Pelisamen’s fireworks didn’t stop there as the Ol’Aces offensive juggernaut fired another 10 markers in the second to give the Oleai team a 15-point advantage, 60-45, at the half.

Advance X-Terminators’ Mutt-and-Jeff tandem of Andres “Jhun” Estolas Jr. and Kelvin Fitial tried to rally back their team in the third, combining for 17 markers.

However, Pelisamen was simply unstoppable, scoring another 11 points to help Ol’Aces to an 88-72 spread heading to the fourth and final quarter.

It turned out Pelisamen was merely warming up in the first 30 minutes of the ballgame, as the former national team standout poured in another 15 points in the payoff period to lead Ol’Aces to the 36-point victory margin.

Cruz added 29 points in the win for Ol’Aces, which also drew 13 from do-it-all forward Pete Iguel and 10 from veteran Ed Diaz. Ol’Aces won despite the ejection of 6’3” center Abong Camacho.

Estolas led Advance X-Terminators in the setback with 24 points, while Fitial and youngster Jonathan Lim added 21 and 14 markers.

In the battle for third, GEC Pawnshop won by default against Tasi Tours Giants.

The second game of the best-of-three series between Ol’Aces and Advance X-Terminators will take place tomorrow starting 5:30pm at the Oleai Sports Complex.

It will be preceded by the 2:30pm third place masters division game between CTSI Forwarders and Bank of Saipan and the 4pm masters division best-of-three finals pitting pennant winner Taga Warrriors against GEC Pawnshop.

Ol’Aces 129 – F. Pelisamen 51, Cruz 29, Iguel 13, Diaz 10, Rangamar 9, Lizama 7, R. Pelisamen 6, Camacho 4.

Advance X-Terminators 93 – Estolas 24, Fitial 21, Lim 14, Mendoza 7, Gamboa 7, Barrios 7, Chan 6, Dayrit 5, Capalad 2.

Scoring by quarters: 38-22, 60-45, 88-72, 129-93.

Referees: Gabriel White and Dado Vistal.