Back-to-back wins for Joeten

Joeten’s Kevin De Leon pulls up for a jumper against three Saipan Ice defenders during their game in the JP World caging last Friday at the Gillette Multipurpose Gymnasium. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Joeten notched its second straight win after a 0-2 start, coasting to the 13-point triumph as it showed a steady offense in the first three quarters of their match against Saipan Ice. Joeten scored in the 20s in the first three frames to build a good lead, going into the fourth quarter, while Saipan had a roller-coaster performance on offense.

Four players scored in twin digits for Joeten with quarterback Kevin De Leon leading the way with his 18 points. Syl Teregeyo added 18 markers, while Dixon Kwon and Juanito Sambile contributed 14 and 10, respectively.

De Leon drilled 7 points in the first period, while Teregeyo and Sambile chipped in 6 each to lift Joeten to a 24-17 advantage. The Joeten trio overcame the 11-point explosion of Jerome Norita in the first frame. In the second canto, it was still a Norita show for Saipan Ice, while Joeten got baskets from multiple players to hit the 20-point mark (21 points) and retain the 7-point edge at halftime, 44-37.

The lead ballooned to 13 in the third, 65-52, as De Leon found new allies in Teregeyo and Kwon, while Joeten limited Norita to a bucket. Teregeyo and Kwon combined for 14 of Joeten’s 21 points, while De Leon scored the other 7.

The 13-point advantage at the end of the third quarter allowed Joeten the luxury of slowing things down on offense, as the team failed to score at least 20 points for the first time in a quarter. Joeten had only 14 markers in the final frame, as they melted the clock past the halfway mark of the fourth while still protecting a double-digit lead. De Leon held on to the ball most of the time and almost always started Joeten’s offense once the 24-second shot clock hit the 10-second mark.

Joeten’s slower pace also prevented Norita and Treat Kaipat from anchoring Saipan Ice’s fastbreak plays, as the former was forced to pull up for several triples and had no success. Norita continued his struggle in the second half, as he was held to another one-field goal performance in the fourth period. However, Norita still led all scorers with his 23 points, while Kaipat added 16. John Santy was the third Saipan Ice player to post double figures with 10 points, but most of them came when Joeten was already in full control of the match. The rest of Saipan Ice players combined for only 10 points, while Joeten drew 18 from four other players to complement the solid scoring of its starters.

Joeten 79 – De Leon 19, Teregeyo 18, Kwon 14, Sambile 10, Lauron 9, Borja 5, Jacob 2, Jas. Sablan 2.

Saipan Ice 67 – Norita 23, Kaipat 16, Santy 10, Villanueva 6, Fernandez 2, Olopai 2, Pangelinan 2.

Scoring by quarters: 24-17, 44-37, 65-52, 79-67.