Bammy’s notches third win in masters

Bammy’s Restaurant blew out Saipan Warriors, 107-78, in the second game in the 2015 Graphics Invitational Masters Basketball League last Monday night at the Gillette Multipurpose Gymnasium.

Bammy’s Restaurant’s Joel Saplan goes up for a shot and is sandwiched by Saipan Warriors’ Ramir Santos, right, and Reli Del Rio during the fourth quarter of their game in the 2015 Graphics Invitational Masters Basketball League last Monday night at the Gillette Multipurpose Gymnasium. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Bammy’s walked away with the 29-point winning margin after pulling away late in the third quarter. It improved to a 3-2 record for a share of the third spot with KB Hite, pending the results of the latter’s final game in the regular season against the second-running Armatech (4-1). Blue Haus leads the league with its perfect 6-0 mark, while the Slashers (1-3), Saipan Warriors (1-5), and Boomers (0-5) round out the team standings.

A 15-6 windup in the remaining three minutes and change of the third period helped Bammy’s turn a slim 60-57 lead to a double-digit spread, 75-63, entering the final canto. Bammy’s started the breakaway with a 10-0 run which Jun Tabora led, as he drilled 4 consecutive points in that stretch. Rodney Catalla capped the spurt with a triple and Joel Saplan added a layup, while only Bobby Geli scored more than one point in the Saipan Warriors’ meltdown.

The Saipan Warriors never recovered from thereon, as besides failing to get contributions from other players, they also piled up turnovers. In the first few minutes of the fourth, they turned the ball over at least five times and Bammy’s capitalized on these lapses, canning uncontested fastbreak layups to take the game away for good, 82-66.

Tabora top-scored for Bammy’s with his 28 points, while Alex Ocampo and Catalla also finished in twin digits with 19 and 15, respectively. Four other Bammy’s players contributed at least 5 points each.

Geli was the lone double-figure scorer for Saipan Warriors with his game-high 39 markers. Ramir Santos added 9, but majority of them came when the game was already out of reach for Saipan Warriors, while Reli Del Rio had a quiet 8 points and made several errant passes in the fourth frame.

With Saipan Warriors ending the regular season with a loss, it remained at the bottom half of the team standings and will face a higher ranked foe in the playoffs, possibly the No. 3 finisher in the field.

Blue Haus is the top finisher and automatically advanced to the semifinals, while Armatech can seal the No. 2 spot if it prevails in its final game against KB Hite last night. The Boomers and Slashers also collided in the first game last night with the latter’s win dropping the former to the last spot. The Slashers will then close out the regular season on Friday with a game against Bammy’s, while the first playoff game will also take place tomorrow with the No. 2 finisher taking on the No. 7 placer.

Bammy’s 107 – Tabora 28, Alipio 19, Catalla 15, Alipio 8, Saplan 6, Enriquez 6, De Guzman 5, Vargas 2, Sampang 2, Zapata 2.

Saipan Warriors 78 – Geli 39, Santos 9, Del Rio 8, Mateo 7, Salazar 6, Alano 4, Surima 2.

Scoring by quarters: 21-23, 47-43, 75-63, 107-78.