Gideon nips Joshua; Caleb routs Jeremiah

Gideon and Caleb downed their respective foes in the 4th Genesis Cup Christian Churches Inter-Color Basketball League in contrasting fashion last Friday night at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

Gideon players pose for a group photo before their game against Joshua in the 4th Genesis Cup last Friday at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium. (Contributed Photo)

Caleb played in the curtain-raiser and romped past Jeremiah, 81-65, while Gideon eked out a 65-63 overtime victory over Joshua in the nightcap.

Bradley Demapan top-scored for Gideon with his 15 points, but it was Joel Buniag and Allan David’s heroics in the extension period that helped the team gain its second win in three games.

Buniag tied the match for the last time, 62-all, after Donnel Isip missed a layup that would have given Joshua a 4-point cushion. Before the sorry miss, Isip canned back-to-back triples in the opening minutes of the overtime to put Joshua on top, 62-60.

Joshua had a chance to reclaim the lead in the ensuing play, but David deflected an inbound pass under the goal and completed the big defensive stop with his layup that gave Gideon the upper hand, 64-62.

Despite the error, Joshua still had an opportunity to stay in the game when Allan Chavez was fouled on the other end, but he split his charities, allowing Gideon to keep the lead, 64-63. Chavez muffed the second free throw and there was a scramble for the rebound with Buniag winning and later drawing a foul from a Joshua defender in the closing seconds of the tight match. Buniag also had a split to peg the final score, as Isip, who got the rebound off the former’s second free throw miss, ran out of time to pull up for a game-tying shot.

Gideon stole the win in overtime after failing to take the victory in regulation, as one of its players went only 1-for-2 from the stripe to force the deadlock, 56-all.

In the first game, Caleb went all out in the second half to rout Jeremiah and join Gideon in second place in the team standings behind Isaiah (2-0) and Daniel (2-0). Jeremiah fell to a 0-3 record to remain at the cellar of the eight-team field.

Michael Cabanas led Caleb’s second-half breakaway, knocking in 15 of his game-high 23 points in the final 20 minutes of play. Before Cabanas’ explosion, Caleb only went up by 4 points after the first half, 42-38.

Arvin Bacani backed Cabanas up, chipping in 15, while Rodel Morales, Roy Ocanada, and Joseph Gatdula combined for 27 more points.

Jay Nunag led Jeremiah’s losing cause with his 21 points, while Mark Rabago and Gener Cabaoas contributed 13 and 12, respectively.

First Game
Caleb 81 – Cabanas 23, Bacani 15, Morales 11, Gatdula 8, Ocanada 8, Sacdalan 5, Huddleston 4, Gozon 4, Castro 3.

Jeremiah 65 – Nunag 21, Rabago 13, Cabaoas 12, Formales 8, Lizardo 4, Deang 4, Casuncad 3, Castro 2.

Scoring by halves: 42-38, 81-65.

Second Game
Gideon 65 – Demapan 15, Borja 11, Sablan 9, Buniag 8, David 6, Santos 6, Palma 6.

Joshua 63 – Gonzales 22, Isip 15, Chavez 13, Abe 4, Sayas 4, Calub 4, Dequito 1.

Scoring by halves: 30-30, 56-56, 65-63 (OT).