Shirley’s zeroes in on semis seat; MBI splits games

MBI/Anchor’s Pete Lizama pulls up for an uncontested floater during the second quarter of their game against CUC in the JP World caging last Friday at the Gillette Multipurpose Gymnasium. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Shirley’s improved to 6-0 to remain on top of the nine-team field and with two games left—against cellar dweller Docomo Pacific (0-6) and the inconsistent Commonwealth Utilities, Corp. (3-4)—in its regular season campaign, the league-leading squad is like to automatically advance to the semis. The two outright semis slot will go to the Top 2 finishers in the round-robin elimination.

MBI/Anchor is still in the fight for the last automatic semis berth, as it earlier defeated CUC last Friday, 96-70, to have a 5-2 record and tie Joeten in second place. Public School System, with its 4-2 mark, joins the three-way battle for the remaining outright Final Four seat, while McDonald’s (3-3) is a long shot in the fight. Saipan Ice & Water (2-6) and Top Development, Inc. (0-5) complete the field.

Shirley’s prevented MBI/Anchor from notching another win after gaining full control of their match in the third period. Shirley’s exploded for 30 points in the third canto against the 16 markers of MBI/Anchor, turning a 36-31 halftime edge to a 66-48 advantage. Earlier in the first frame, Shirley’s faced a 16-19 deficit, as Matt Duenas and company failed to get their acts together.

Duenas, Lerio Pagarao, Erick Dela Rosa, and Sean Rabasto then got things going for Shirley’s in the third to build a comfortable lead, while the rest of their teammates contributed in the fourth quarter to keep the team’s safe distance.

Duenas and Pagarao went on to top-score for Shirley’s, making 16 points each, while Dela Rosa and Rabasto added 15 and 13, respectively.

Meanwhile, in last Friday’s game, MBI capitalized on the depleted crew of CUC to cruise to victory.

CUC suited up for the weekend match with only five players and put on a good stand only in the first half of the opening period before MBI took over en route to a 26-point winning margin.

CUC managed to tie the match at 9-all off Iramk Simada’s second field goal of the night with 4:39 left in the first period, but MBI had 14-2 windup to establish an early double-digit lead, 23-11. MBI never looked back from thereon, as CUC clearly lacked the manpower to keep up with the younger and faster MBI players.

FRIDAY
MBI/Anchor 96 – Devero 30, Capalad 15, Fernando 12, Zapanta 10, Lizama 9, Trajano 6, Cordero 2, Garcia 4, Garciano 2.

CUC 70 – Nunez 25, Benavente 16, Simada 10, Lieto 10, Masga 9.

Scoring by quarters: 23-11, 51-29, 78-45, 96-70.

MONDAY
Shirley’s 93 – Duenas 16, Pagarao 16, Dela Rosa 15, Rabasto 13, Manibusan 9, Drillon 5, Usi 4, Jugos 3, Esdrelon 3, Aguilar 2.

MBI/Anchor 68 – Zapanta 16, Fernando 14, Devero 13, Lizama 10, Capalad 9, Cordero 2, Viola 2.

Scoring by quarters: 16-19, 36-31, 66-48, 93-68.