MJD Enterprises nips IT&E

MJD Enterprises’ Dan Barcinas, left, partially blocks the shot of IT&E’s Errol Peredo during the third quarter of their game in the IGBL last Monday night at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

MJD Enterprises avoided a second-half meltdown after nosing out IT&E, 90-89, in the second game in the 2016 IT&E Inter-Government/Business Basketball League last Monday night at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

Jack Lizama saved the day for MJD, knocking in a jumper in the closing seconds of the match. His game-winning shot came after he collared the rebound off a sorry miss from Shane Deleon Guerrero on the other end.

Guerrero could have iced it for IT&E, which grabbed the upper hand, 89-88, in the last 14 seconds of the game after falling behind by as much as 17 points in the first half, 32-49. Peredo’s basket put IT&E on top and the team had a chance to extend the lead when MJD muffed a shot and Angelo Fernando got the rebound. Fernando then passed the ball to Deleon Guerrero, who was sprinting to their frontcourt and was tempted to go for the layup instead of running down the clock. He faltered with Dar Barcinas chasing him and challenging the shot.

After the miss, Lizama plucked the rebound went coast to coast before stopping for the killer jumper, down to the final two seconds of the match. IT&E sued for time to map out a play, which should have Peredo taking the shot after the inbound play. However, Nate Mateo failed to hand the ball over to Peredo, as the former fumbled and time expired, allowing MJD to escape with a one-point win.

Lizama was among the three players who scored in double figures in MJD’s close win. He finished with 14 points, 8 of them came in the second half and 6 in the fourth canto. Douglas Schmidt paced MJD with his 27 markers, while Matt Duenas chipped in 25. Peredo also had 25 points to lead IT&E.

With the victory, MJD improved to a 4-0 record for a share of the Pool A lead with T Galleria.

Meanwhile, Pacific Islands Club won the battle of undefeated teams in Pool B after dominating DFEMS in the first game, 84-67.

PIC got off to a good start, leading at 28-11 in the first quarter and never looked back to bag its third win in as many games. DFEMS had its two-game streak snapped.

The backcourt duo of Sean Rabasto and Jack Aranda towed PIC to the 17-point win after firing 23 and 15 points, respectively.

First Game
PIC 84 — Rabasto 23, Aranda 15, Barbo 13, Espinosa 12, Castro 10, Eroch 2, Bartolo 2.

DFEMS 67 — Lisua 15, Pua 14, Rabauliman 9, Iginoef 8, Benjamin 7, Cruz 3, George 3, Magofna 2, Borja 2, Kaipat 2.

Scoring by quarters: 28-11, 51-28, 73-46, 84-67.

Second Game
MJD 90 — Schmidt 27, Duenas 25, Lizama 14, Barcinas 8, Gapor 4, Deocares 2.

IT&E 89 — Peredo 25, Deleon Guerrero 15, Pagarao 15, Mateo 14, Fernando 13, Manalo 6, Mancao 2.

Scoring by quarters: 17-18, 49-32, 76-66, 90-89.