Eye Sees edges Island Manpower

Eye Sees held Island Manpower scoreless in the last two minutes to eke out a 61-57 victory in the second game in the 2015 DLX Invitational Basketball League last Wednesday night at the Gualo Rai Basketball Court.

Eye Sees’ Lauro Lim throws up a shot against three Island Manpower defenders during the fourth quarter of their game in the DLX caging last Wednesday night at the Gualo Rai Basketball Court. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Eye Sees notched its fourth win in five games, tying idle Jake’s Catering for second place in the team standings behind unbeaten SSFM/New Garapan Market and boosting its bid for the automatic semis berth. The Top 2 teams after the round-robin elimination will gain outright semis entry.

Myler David top-scored in Eye Sees’ triumph with his 14 points, while Angelo Fernando added 12, and Jerome Directo chipped in 9.

Seven of Directo’s points came in the fourth quarter, including a putback that gave Eye Sees the lead, 58-57, entering the final two minutes of the match. Teams traded misses in the ensuing plays with Island Manpower’s Jerome Norita muffing a triple and his running jumper hitting the side of the board and Eye Sees also faltering on its two offensive sets

After Norita’s second miss, Fernando grabbed the rebound and went coast to coast to the basket, increasing Eye See’s lead to 3, 60-57, with less than a minute left on the clock. Island Manpower tried to even up the count, but Ferdie Tobias missed a triple from the top key, while Eye Sees ran down some time before the former gave up late foul, 0.8 of a second remaining in the game. Directo made his second free throw to seal it for Eye Sees, while Jun Tabora’s desperation triple failed to beat the clock, preserving Eye Sees’ 4-point winning margin.

It was a sorry loss for Island Manpower, who led by as much as 8 points late in the third off Tabora’s string of baskets and then earned 6-point cushion in the opening minutes of the fourth, 52-46, off Norita’s back-to-back triples. Manpower was held to two field goals after that with Norita canning another trey and Tabora drilling a fastbreak layup midway in the final frame. It was all Eye Sees from thereon.

In the first game, Mawati gained its third straight win after downing Maplas, 66-54.

Mawati played better in the second half, turning a 25-all halftime standoff, to a promising 48-37 advantage at the end of the third. Mawati never looked back from thereon.

Arjay Nonato anchored Mawati’s second half assault, drilling 11 of his team-high 15 markers in the final 20 minutes of play.

First Game
Mawati 66 – Nonato 15, Demapan 14, Reyes 8, Corotan 7, Enriquez 7, Rivera 5, Rejano 5, Gontar 2, Larot 2.

Maplas 54 – Pangelinan 19, Mendoza 14, Aniciete 8, M. Usi 5, Achas 4, Surla 1.

Scoring by quarters: 8-15, 25-25, 48-37, 66-54.

Second Game
Eye Sees 61 – David 14, Fernando 12, Directo 9, Lim 8, Muleta 8, Quemado 6, Manzano 5.

Island Manpower 57 – Norita 25, Tabora 24, Palacios 3, Rangamar 3, Olopai 2.

Scoring by quarters: 12-8, 30-27, 42-43, 61-57.