Ol’Aces finally hoist FMI cage crown

Power outage this time didn’t stop Ol’Aces from taking home the Inaugural FMI Inter-Color Basketball League championship trophy after finally completing its Game 3 win against Advance X-Terminators, 124-110, last night at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

The final game of the best-of-three series between the Oleai team and the pennant champions was originally played last Thursday. However, an unexpected power outage at 10:20pm stalled Ol’Aces’ march to the championship, as the game was postponed with 3:30 left in the contest and Ol’Aces ahead by 13 points, 109-96.

When play resumed last night, Advance X-Terminators head coach Marvin Deocares told his boys that they can make history by overhauling the baker’s dozen lead with that much left in the game clock.

Instead, they were relegated to the annals of local basketball teams that peaked in the eliminations only to sputter when the games mattered the most.

And they only have Ol’Aces scoring machine Freddie Pelisamen to blame for making the championship his personal showcase.

The 5’8” reed-thin swingman capped his 103-point performance in the first two games by scoring 49 markers in the third and final bout, including nine points in the final 3:30.

Before the restart for Game 3, Pelisamen was seen exchanging pleasantries with Deocares and somewhat apologized for almost single-handedly bringing Ol’Aces to the cusp of the championship podium.

To which Deocares jokingly responded by telling Pelisamen that he will not recruit him anymore to play for his teams.

Already shorthanded with the absence of 6’1” Edsel Mendoza due to an injury, Advance X-Terminators suffered yet another blow when leading scorer Jonathan Lim was nowhere to be seen in the Game 3 reset.

That forced Deocares to “start” a less stellar five with Joy Dayrit and J.R. Barios joining regulars Andres “Jhun” Estolas Jr., Kelvin Fitial, and Jon Artates on the floor against Ol’Aces’ Pelisamen, Jericho Cruz, Jack Lizama, Ed Diaz, and Luis Iguel.

To add to Advance X-Terminators’ woes Estolas was less than 100 percent after a bad fall in the first installment of Game 3 Thursday hurt his ankle.

The historic comeback Deocares and Advance X-Terminators started on the wrong foot with Fitial badly missing on two free throws, while Pelisamen scored on an easy layup on the other end to up their lead to 15 points.

Artates tried his best to keep the Bug Busters’ hopes alive by scoring four quick points to trim the lead to 11 points, 111-100, but Barrios’ contested 3-pointer miss was answered by four free throws by Pelisamen.

And to make matters worse, Advance X-Terminators’ strategy of fouling to stop the clock resulted in their players getting disqualified because of five fouls. One by one, Dayrit, Artates, and Joelan Mendoza hit the showers even before the game concluded.

In the end, Pelisamen and Ol’Aces made just the right number of free throws and stood their ground on defense to win the championship running away.

Pelisamen, who went on to bag the open division MVP, led all scorers with the aforementioned 49 points, while Cruz and Lizama added 30 and 25 points in the win.

Artates went on to score 20 points, six after the restart, to support Lim’s 30 points. Gyles Ruluked, who already fouled out Thursday, and the hobbling Estolas chipped in 13 apiece in the loss.

While power outage didn’t interrupt Tuesday’s continuation of Game 3, the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. spoiled the awards ceremony after it as organizers were about to present the three-foot high Inaugural FMI Inter-Color Basketball League championship trophy to Ol’Aces when the lights again unexpectedly went out at the Oleai Sports Complex.

Ol’Aces 124 – Pelisamen 49, Cruz 30, Lizama 25, L. Iguel 10, Rabauliman 7, Iginoef 5, Diaz 2.

Advance X-Terminators 110 – Lim 30, Artates 20, Ruluked 13, Estolas 13, Barrios 9, Fitial 7, Dayrit 6, Gamboa 4, Capalad 4,

Scoring by quarters: 32-30, 60-55, 94-78, 124-110.

Referees: Arnold Mesa, Dado Vistal, and Jess Pabula.