Autonomous knocks out Tinian in shootout

By ROSELYN B. MONROYO
roselyn_monroyo@saipantribune.com
REPORTER

Autonomous kept its title-defense bid alive after outgunning Tinian, 118-112, in their playoff game in the Inaugural PTI Inter-Government/Business Basketball League Tuesday night at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

The high-scoring match ended in favor of Autonomous, as the defending champion shot impressively from the 15-foot line in the last two minutes of the game.

Autonomous went 8-for-10 from the stripe to foil Tinian’s repeated comeback bids. Actually, the defending champion missed only once in its 10 trips to the free-throw line, but Richard Brostrom’s second charity was nullified as he stepped on the line.

Autonomous led by nine, 110-101, with less than three minutes remaining on the clock, but Tinian refused to give up.

Anthony Borja hit a booming triple and after an Autonomous miss, Richard Morgan canned a long jumper to cut the lead to three, 107-110, with 1:23 left in the game

Chris Camacho and Brostrom split their charities, while Ponce Rasa went 2-for-2 in the ensuing plays, which saw Tinian giving up successive fouls.

Just when Autonomous thought it had a safe lead at the 114-107 tally, with 49 seconds remaining in the match, Borja drilled another triple to move Tinian within four, 110-114

Tinian hoping to stop the clock and praying for an Autonomous’ misses, fouled Bobby Coldeen and Rasa in the next two offensive plays.

Rasa and Coldeen ended what’s left of Tinian’s hopes to steal the win when they both shot 2-for-2 from the stripe.

Rasa led all scorers with 47 points, while Coldeen and Brostrom chipped in 27 and 20 markers, respectively. Camacho added 15.

Ringo Reyes paced Tinian with 44 points, but lost steam in the closing minutes of the game, nailing only two points in the last four minutes of the match.

Santos and Borja contributed 24 and 23 points, respectively, but these were not enough to prevent Tinian from bowing out of the competition.

Tinian already has two losses in the double-elimination playoffs. It lost to PTI via forfeiture two weeks ago.

Autonomous has a 2-1 record in the playoffs and must win against the victor of the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs-Department of Corrections tiff tonight to advance to the semifinals.

DCAA and DOC were playing in the first game last night. Northern Marianas College and PTI were dueling in the second match. Results of both matches were unavailable at press time.

NMC and PTI were dueling for the first finals ticket.

The Autonomous-Tinian game was a neck-and-neck battle with Tinian leading by only four after the first period.

Reyes had 11 first-quarter points to give Tinian a four-point advantage in the first quarter.

Autonomous tied the game at halftime, 53-all, with Rasa, who was held to two field goals in the first canto, waxing hot in the second firing 14 points, and Brostrom adding eight.

Rasa continued to burn the basket, scoring 10 more points in the third to put Autonomous in the driver’s seat, 82-80, entering the fourth period.

The final canto was a seesaw affair at the start, until Autonomous tried pulling away midway with Rasa and Coldeen trading baskets. But the hard-fighting Tinian crew kept coming back before free throws decided the outcome of the game.

Autonomous 118 – Rasa 47, Coldeen 27, Brostrom 20, Camacho 15, Wesley 9.

Tinian 112 – Reyes 44, Santos 24, Borja 23, Sablan 6, Morgan 4.

Scoring by quarters: 21-24, 53-all, 82-80, 118-112

Referees: Dado Vistal and Gilbert Espinosa.