Hard Kulangot wins in OT

Hard Kulangot outlasted Pasion De Amor in overtime, 85-81, in the lone game completed in the 2015 Blue Haus/IT&E Inter-Color Basketball League last Saturday night at the Navy Hill court.

Hard Kulangot capitalized on a short-handed Pasion De Amor in the extension period to improve to a 2-1 record, the same mark the latter holds.

Pasion De Amor played with only four players in the last 12 seconds of regulation and in the extra five minutes of play as Bart Demapan left the court after the match was halted by a light shower and never came back. Before Demapan’s disappearance, Pasion De Amor was clinging to a shaky 71-70 lead after Elmer Edrelon canned a wide-open layup off the former’s pass in a fastbreak play.

Hard Kulangot sued for time after Pasion De Amor regained the upper hand, however the game took time to resume due to the rain, which lasted for about 10 minutes. When the court dried and the opposing teams were ready to play again, Demapan was nowhere to be found and Pasion De Amor was forced to play with only four players.

Pasion De Amor went for the zone defense with one man down and seemed headed for the win only to commit a foul in the last two seconds of regulation. It was a big blow, as Rey Pestillos was caught holding down J.R. Barrios and was charged with an unsportsmanlike foul that meant two free throws for Hard Kulangot plus possession.

Fortunately for Pasion De Amor, Barrios split his charities, missing the first one and making the second to force the deadlock. Barrios later missed a triple at the buzzer, sending the match into overtime.

In the extension, Pasion De Amor remained afloat in the first two minutes, as it was down by only a hair, 79-80, after Nestor Arreza’s trey. However, it was all Hard Kulangot in the last three minutes, as it pushed the ball hard in the ensuing plays to capitalize on the depleted Pasion De Amor crew and steal the win after falling behind by as much as 9 points in regulation, 49-58.

Marlon De Dios paced Hard Kulangot with his 23 points, while three of his teammates also broke into double figures. Barrios chipped in 17, while Marlo Ibanez and Jerome Pollisco contributed 13 and 10, respectively.

Nestor Arreza had 25 to lead Pasion De Amor, which drew 18 markers from Demapan before the agile big man left the court. Pestillo, Elmer Esdrelon, and Boyer Arreza completed Pasion De Amor’s box score, logging 17, 15, and 6 markers.

Meanwhile, last Friday’s game between Red Rice and Eh Di Wow and last Saturday’s second match featuring Purple Rain and Oh My J were halted due to the lack of light at the Navy Hill court. Red Rice was on top of Eh Di Wow, 49-37, with 10:24 left in the match, while last Saturday’s game did not even complete the first half of play.

The two suspended matches were scheduled to continue last night after two double-header featuring Wag Kang Pabebe versus Eh Di Wow and Hard Kulangot against Red Rice. Results of these games will be reported later this week.

Hard Kulangot 85 – De Dios 23, Barrios 17, Ibanez 13, Pollisco 12, Garcia 8, Lontoc 6, Ebuen 4, Cultura 2.
Pasion De Amor 81 – N. Arreza 25, Demapan 18, Pestillos 17, Esdrelon 15, B. Arreza 6.
Scoring by halves: 34-32, 71-71, 85-81 (OT).