Daniel gets early Genesis Cup lead

Defending champion Daniel took the early lead in the 4th Genesis Cup Christian Churches Inter-Color Basketball League following a 73-67 win over Jeremiah last Friday night at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

League game officials, volunteers, and sports coordinators of participating teams pose for a group photo after the opening ceremony of the 4th Genesis Cup late last month at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium. (Contributed Photo)

Daniel notched its second victory in as many games to pace Isaiah (1-0), Joshua (1-0), Gideon (1-1), Caleb (1-1), Samuel (0-1), Ezekiel (0-1), and Jeremiah (0-2) in the team standings.

Daniel dictated the tempo of second game of the night right at the get-go and though Jeremiah hung around throughout the match, the former withstood the latter’s repeated comeback bids for the 6-point winning margin.

Angelo Hernaez top-scored for Daniel with his 26 points, while Alain Nunez was the other double figure scorer for the team with 11. Three other Daniel players combined for 24 with Reli Del Rio, Mark Del Carmen, and Dindo Pablo registering 8 markers apiece.

Hernaez dropped 16 of his total output in the first half to lift Daniel to a 43-32 lead. Del Carmen added 8, while four more Daniel players converted at least two field goals each in the team’s balance scoring.

No Jeremiah player broke into twin digits in the first half, but with Mark Rabago and Edgar Deang canning a couple of triples and Tenepere drilling four field goals, they kept Daniel within striking distance. Rabago and Deang nailed two triples each.

Jeremiah made only one triple in the second half off Rabago’s rainbow connection, but only him, Tenepere, and Nunag canned more than one field goal in the final frame as they failed to overhaul the deficit.

Hernaez added 10 more in the second half and drew a lot of support from his teammates to keep the lead and secure the win.

In the first game, Nathan Borromeo and Michael Cabanas combined for more than half of Caleb’s total production to power their team to the 18-point win.

The victory allowed Caleb to bounce back from its debut loss to Daniel, 52-65, last Feb. 23.

Borromeo and Cabanas joined forces early, scoring 10 and 9 points in the first half, which ended with Caleb enjoying a double-digit lead, 33-23.

Gideon failed to contain Caleb’s 1-2 punch in the second half and on the offensive end the former also could not get basket in streaks to drop to a 1-1 record. Gideon won its first match in the season, downing Samuel during the league opener, 63-60.

Lawrence Borja led Gideon’s losing cause with his 16 points, while Allan David and Joel Buniag contributed 14 and 11, respectively. Gideon missed the services of Bradley Demapan, who scored 17 in their 3-point victory over Samuel.

Meanwhile, action in the eight-team league resumed last night with Caleb going for win No. 2 against Ezekiel in the curtain-raiser. In the second game, Isaiah collided with Joshua. Results of neither match were unavailable at press time.

First Game
Caleb 68 – Borromeo 22, Cabanas 21, Bacani 10, Gatdula 8, Malaque 3, Castro 2, Sacdalan 2.

Gideon 50 – Borja 16, David 14, Buniag 11, Sablan 3, Batallones 2, Santos 2, Palma 2.

Scoring by halves: 33-23, 68-50.

Second Game
Daniel 73 – Hernaez 26, Nunez 11, Del Carmen 8, Pablo 8, Del Rio 8, Borromeo 4, Paulino 4, Valderama 2, Puno 2.

Jeremiah 67 – Nunag 20, Tenepere 18, Rabago 12, Deang 9, Lansangan 5, Castro 3.

Scoring by halves: 43-32, 73-67.