Blue Haus nears regular season sweep

Blue Haus moved one win away from sweeping the regular season of the 2015 Graphics Invitational Masters Basketball League after outlasting KB Hite, 98-90, last Wednesday night at the Gillette Multipurpose Gymnasium.

Blue Haus’ Junar Guiab is fouled by KB Hite’s Art Montes, partly hidden, during the third quarter of their game in the 2015 Graphics Invitational Masters Basketball League last Wednesday night at the Gillette Multipurpose Gymnasium. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

The unbeaten Blue Haus now has six victories and will try to keep its perfect record on Monday when it faces winless Boomers (0-4). Regardless of the results of its last game, Blue Haus is assured of the No. 1 spot in the team standings and the automatic semis berth, leaving the six remaining teams to battle for the three other Final Four slots.

KB Hite, which fell to an even 2-2 mark, had a chance to hand Blue Haus its first loss of the season after grabbing the lead in the second quarter. However, Blue Haus regrouped quickly and withstood KB Hite’s repeated comeback bids to stay undefeated in the seven-team field.

KB Hite made one final push when it clawed its way back from a 15-point deficit, 68-84, moving within 4 points, 82-86. The Boy Garcia-coached team launched a 14-2 run in five minutes after Blue Haus tried to blow the game wide open with a 10-1 scoring run in the first three minutes of the fourth. Marlon Sison, Randy Mungcal, and Ed Pangelinan knocked in one triple apiece in KB Hite’s rally to threaten Blue Haus.

However, Blue Haus stopped the bleeding after drawing fouls in their next two offensive sets and Edwin Santos and Junar Guiab made splits for an 88-82 lead, while KB Hite attempted from downtown anew and this time had a few misses.

An error from Romy Verano, who tried to save the ball from going out but it landed on the wrong hands, which led to an Ernie Moises fastbreak layup, upping Blue Haus’ lead to 8, entering the final two minutes of the match. KB Hite fired blanks anew from the rainbow arc on its next two plays, while Guiab canned a pair of free throws to seal it for Blue Haus.

Guiab top-scored for Blue Haus with his 30 points, making up for the absence of Edsel Mendoza. Moises chipped in 19, while Tony Diaz and Santos contributed 15 and 13, respectively. Mungcal led KB Hite with his 29 points, Pangelinan added 23, and Sison tallied 13.

In the first game, Bammy’s Restaurant bagged its second win after routing Boomers, 93-77.

Four Bammy’s players broke into double figures en route to the easy win. Jun Tabora tallied 23 points for Bammy’s, which got 17 from Jun Alipio and 15 and 10 from Rodney Catalla and Alex Ocampo, respectively.

Dennis Cortez suited up for the Boomers for the first time and had a team-high 23 points, while Arman Anasan recorded 17.

First Game
Bammy’s 93 – J. Tabora 23, Alipio 17, Catalla 15, Ocampo 10, Sampang 6, Saplan 5, D. Tabora 4, De Guzman 4, Vargas 2, Enriquez 2.

Boomers 77 – Cortez 23, Anasan 17, Usi 12, Echavez 6, Buniag 5, Dela Cruz 4, Salazar 1.

Scoring by quarters: 17-17, 42-31, 68-47, 93-47.

Second Game
Blue Haus 98 – Guiab 30, Moises 19, Diaz 15, Santos 13, Macoto 8, Buenabajo 6, Fernandez 5.

KB Hite 90 – Mungcal 29, Pangelinan 23, Sison 13, Verano 7, Yalung 4, Morales 3, Garcia 2, Duenas 2.

Scoring by quarters: 21-20, 49-40, 74-67, 98-90.