Cabalen shows no mercy, NAMFREL beats 287

Cabalen-RP Construction/Transamerica put on a beating Saturday as the powerhouse squad showed no mercy in its bout against Bayani-HBR International in the ongoing Budweiser-Coca Cola 6th UFO Inter-Organizational Basketball League at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

Cabalen built a 20-point lead after just 10 minutes, then dominated the rest of the way for a convincing 125-67 victory.

Playing with a short-handed lineup, the Bayani cagers quickly found themselves trailing by a huge margin as Cabalen used their run-and-gun attack to blaze ahead. Nine different cagers scored in Cabalen’s 30-point push in the opening period, while the team pulled together and put up a strong defensive stand to hold Bayani to 10 points.

Rico Canlas, who had seven points in the first, continued to put the ball through the hoop as he added another six points to lead a balanced charge that resulted in Cabalen increasing the lead to 32 points at the break, 58-26.

Even with the game pretty much in the bag, Cabalen refused to show weakness and continued with its scoring spree. Canlas still had the hot hand and drilled in a triple and two field goals, Randy Arnedo did the same, and Ronald Delos Reyes and Ed Palma each had a field goal and 3-pointer to spearhead a run that brought the team to within four points of the century mark after just three periods, 96-58.

The only question left unanswered was by how much Cabalen was going to win by, and by the time the final buzzer sounded, the team had cruised to a 58-point victory margin.

Canlas and Buboy Sampang led Cabalen with 28 and 16 points, while Arnedo and Alex Ocampo had 15 and 14 points. Jason Gatdula also added 10 points.

George Poquiz and Edwin Guzman led Bayani, which only had six players, with 18 points apiece, while Lito Aglubat and Richard Tan contributed 14 and 11 points.

In the second game, NAMFREL-Region V/Sabungero and 287 Club-McDonald’s engaged in a tightly fought match, but in the end, it was NAMFREL that had just enough juice to post a 87-84.

287’s William Opone was on fire at the start of the game and knocked in 10 points, however, 287 only had three other field goals the entire first quarter and trailed, 16-19.

Opone kept his sizzling evening going and was joined by forward Francis Rebuyon as the two scored nine points apiece and ignited a 25-14 run that gave 287 a 44-33 halftime lead.

Rebuyon kept on pouring in the points with another 11 markers but the other 287 cagers had trouble and combined for just four points, giving NAMFREL the opportunity to return favor to their corner. With 287 struggling, NAMFREL broke out of their cold shooting and heated up for 25 points to take a two-point lead with only one quarter remaining, 58-56.

That’s when power forward Bernard Samson took over for NAMFREL and as he worked up 13 points, including hitting 3-of-3 from the charity line, to help NAMFREL hold on for the win.

Center Larry Palero led NAMFREL with 19 points, while Samson and point guard Noel Sabordo supported 18 and 17 points, respectively. Gabby Gagate and Renato Pe also chipped in 14 and 12 points.

Rebuyon and Opone led 287 Club with 32 and 20 points, while Gil Gapor had 11 points.

First Game

Cabalen 125 – Canlas 28, Sampang 16, Arnedo 15, Ocampo 14, Gatdula 10, Pineda 9, Mungcal 9, Delos Reyes 9, Palma 9, Barbo 6.

Bayani 67 – Poquiz 18, Guzman 18, Aglubat 14, Tan 11, Borja 6.

Scoring by quarters: 30-10, 58-26, 96-48, 125-67.

Referees: Jess Pacheco and Eric Artillaga.

Second Game

NAMFREL 87 – Palero 19, Samson 18, Sabordo 17, Gagate 14, Pe 12, Garcia 5, Miday 2.

287 Club 84 – Rebuyon 32, Opone 20, Gapor 11, Samson 7, Mi. Achas 6, Tobias 4, Lizo 2, Jinang 2.

Scoring by quarters: 19-16, 33-41, 58-56, 87-84.

Referees: Dado Vistal and Noel Delos Santos.