Mobil win away from repeating as champion

Mobil dominated Game 1 of the QQ Car Rental Basketball Cup Invitational League’s best-of-three championship after demolishing Smart Cagers, 90-74, Wednesday night at the Garapan Basketball Court.

After a close first half, Mobil unleashed an offensive barrage in the third quarter with point guard extraordinaire Jin Estolas leading the charge with 18 points.

In contrast, Smart Cagers were lackadaisical after the halftime break, mustering only 12 points as they took it on the chin, trailing by 20 big points, 63-43, heading into the fourth and final quarter.

Smart Cagers would never recover in the payoff period as both teams traded baskets in the final 10 minutes for the lopsided Mobil win.

Marvin Rabauliman carried the torch in the first quarter, scoring eight points to help Mobil manage an early three-point lead, 17-14, in the opening period.

Smart Cagers cleaned up their defense in the second quarter though and held Mobil to just 11 points.

On offense, Errol Peredo delivered seven points which helped turned the tables on Mobil, as Smart Cagers led, 31-28, at the half.

That proved to be the last hurrah for Smart Cagers though, as Mobil overwhelmed them with an avalanche of points in the second half.

Estolas and Rabauliman teamed up for 41 markers to lead Mobil’s sterling win, while Smart Cagers do-it-all forward Pete Iguel scored a game-high 26 in the loss.

Game 2 of the Mobil-Smart Cagers finals tips off at 7:30pm tomorrow at the Garapan Basketball Court.

In addition to the championship series, the regular season awards presentation will take place during halftime of the match.

Before Wednesday’s finals match, a U12 exhibition game was played between some youth players from Rollers Basketball Club.

Fotten Gaga held off a late rally by Konflikt in the final minutes, 17-14. The game was played under two 10-minute halves and was officiated by U16 RBC player Keylanni Rios and U14’s William Camacho.

In the youth game, feisty defense on both sides made points hard to come by in the first half as it was locked at a bucket apiece for half the period. The count shifted to 4-all at midpoint until Fotten Gaga stole the lead, 6-4, in the final minutes.

Konflikt battled back in the second frame, but Fotten Gaga’s Angelo Factor strung up three consecutive buckets that led his team to victory. Factor was awarded most valuable player honors for his clutch performance.

After the youth match, QQ Car Rental president James Hann presented RBC head coach Joe Diaz with a certificate of appreciation and a brand new set of basketball nets for his club.

Just before Game 1, 10 contestants from the crowd, including Hann, participated in a cone drill buzzer-beater side game. Officials set 10 seconds on the clock and players had to dribble across the court around strategically placed cones in time and sink the shot.

RBC U16’s Daryl Suarez and U18’s Joshua Lizama were the only two to pull off the feat. The pair went back and forth three times until Lizama finally blinked. Suarez won a gift certificate from Hard Rock Café for his efforts.

Mobil 90[/B] – Estolas 21, Rabauliman 20, Sharry 16, Ruluked 15, Fernando 9, De Guzman 8, Wensceslao 1.

Fotten Gaga 17[/B] – Factor 6, Cruz 4, Fereira 4, Quiambao 2, Cruz 1.
[B] Konflitk 14[/B] – Rios 6, Francisco 4, Itaas 4.
[B] Scoring by halves:[/B] 6-4, 17-14.