Visminda outlasts SIP, closes in on finals

Defending champion Visminda-Country House inched closer to the finals after nipping three-time titlist SIP-Verizon, 88-84, Sunday night in the second week of the 2004 UFO-San Miguel Cup playoffs at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

Coach Boy Garcia’s team engaged SIP in a war of attrition in the payoff period before taking the lead for good, 84-80, on back-to-back fastbreak layups by best player of the game Jawn Joyner and spitfire Bing Marasigan.

SIP came within a point of Visminda’s lead, 84-83, on Edsel Mendoza’s surprise triple with 42 ticks remaining. After split charities by Marasigan and SIP’s Leo Factor, veteran Dado Vistal had a chance to ice the game from the 15-foot line following a foul by Factor.

Vistal missed the first free throw but made good on the second. With 13.1 seconds left and down by a bucket, SIP quickly brought the ball down court and it wound up with Jester Garcia firing a three.

Garcia would miss from the corner and the ball sailed out with Visminda getting possession and suing for time with 3.8 seconds remaining.

Coming out of the timeout, Vistal inbounded to forward Banjo Basila but the game clock took a good 3 seconds to run and referees signaled a stoppage of play.

With the Visminda players crying foul and SIP screaming for the officials to call a technical on the opposing bench, referees Ricky Itaas and Gabriel White took control of the situation and ordered both teams to play out the remaining 2.2 seconds of the game sans technicals or walkouts.

When play finally resumed, SIP’s Garcia was whistled for an unsportsmanlike foul on Marasigan and the fiery guard sealed the victory by hitting two from the 15-foot line.

It was nip and tuck all the way in the fourth period with neither team leading by more than 4 points. Visminda caught a break with 2:24 left in the contest when Joyner swooshed a desperation triple against the shot clock that tied the count at 76-all.

After that SIP led on two more occasions, 78-76, and, 80-78, but each time Basila banged in crucial baskets that setup Joyner and Marasigan’s 4-point flurry that turned out to be the beginning of the end for Verizon.

“It was a crucial game with both teams giving it their all. We were just lucky we got all the breaks at the endgame. That 3-point shot by Joyner was really big. SIP was making a move and we were out of our set offense. Free throws were also big in this ballgame and at least we always made 1 out of 2,” said coach Garcia after the match.

Visminda led in the first two quarters, 20-17, and 38-30, but SIP made a big push in the third to whittle it down to a single point, 57-56, and it remained close the rest of the way.

Joyner once again filled up the stat sheet with 17 points, 4 rebounds, 4 steals, 4 blocks and 2 assists. Marasigan also played his heart out totaling 16 points and 3 assists. Ed Cosino also topped the rebounds department with 13.

Factor was a revelation for SIP, as the bull-strong forward took the entire Visminda frontline to school with 23 points and 6 boards. Mendoza also turned back the hands of time, firing 20 points, hauling down 7 caroms, and blocking 2 shots. Playing-coach Rick Alegre wound up with 12 points and 7 assists in the loss.

Visminda 88 – Joyner 17, Marasigan 16, Basila 15, Vistal 15, Cosino 11, Artates 8, De Belen 2.

SIP 84 – Factor 23, Mendoza 20, R. Alegre 12, Villacrusis 11, Amado 7, Garcia 5, Espinosa 2, Rapanut 2, Mendiola 2.

Scoring by quarters: 20-17, 38-30, 57-56, 88-84.

Referees: Ricky Itaas and Gabriel White.