VisMinda/PIAHI marches to semis

VisMinda/PIAHI showed nerves of steel in the homestretch to eke out a 79-75 win against MAFEA/RNV in the playoff round of the UFO Inter-Organization Masters Basketball Docomo Pacific Cup 2011 on Tuesday night at the TSL Sports Complex.

The victory put VisMinda in the semis, joining defending champion Cabalen/Wings Travel and MDX/Armatech. The loss moved MAFEA in the brink of elimination and it must prevail over SWAFSO/Ebisuya today to advance to the next round.

Jun Abedes gave VisMinda a slot to the next round when he scored eight straight points in the last 2:15 of the match, foiling MAFEA’s repeated comeback bids.

Abedes started his scoring spree with a short jumper, lifting VisMinda to a 72-66 advantage. 2:06 to go in the game.

MAFEA answered with a short 5-0 rally to threaten, 71-72. It had a chance to grab the lead in the 1:56 mark when it had possession, however Elmer Pineda’s inbound pass slipped away from Ed Cosino’s hands.

After the error, MAFEA committed a defensive lapse when it left Abedes open from the left key and the VisMinda forward connected on a triple, upping their lead to four, 75-71, 1:17 left in the fourth canto.

Pineda’s split made it a 75-72 count. But Abedes stretched the lead to six, 78-72, when he drove to the hoops, made the basket, and drew a foul on Ferdie de la Torre, 46 seconds remaining in the game.

Pineda kept MAFEA’s hopes alive when he connected on a triple. After the basket, MAFEA was forced to foul Ray Lizama to stop the clock, which read at 21.4 seconds. Lizama muffed the first charity, but canned the second one to give VisMinda the insurance basket, 79-75.

MAFEA took a while to set up its offense in the ensuing play and when it did, Cosino faltered on a desperation trey and VisMinda collared the defensive rebound to seal the win.

Lizama paced VisMinda with 23 points, while Abedes chipped in 22. Jack Palacios and Junior Renguul also finished in double figures with 14 and 13 markers, respectively.

Dado Vistal and Bicera led MAFEA with 18 points each, while Cosino added 14, but was scoreless in the fourth quarter.

Renguul hit his shots early, tallying eight points in the opening period and powering VisMinda to a 20-13 advantage. MAFEA inched closer at the break, 31-33, as Vistal started connecting from downtown.

Then at the start of the second half, VisMinda had their biggest lead at nine points, 62-53, as it also hit a couple of triples and Lizama bulldozed his way to the basket in the third quarter.

In the final canto, MAFEA managed to force the first deadlock in the game, 66-66, behind the five straight points of de la Torre, with about four minutes left in the match. However, Abedes and Lizama joined forces in a quick 6-0 swing to regain the upper hand. Abedes made a layup, fed Lizama for a fastbreak basket, and then drilled a short jumper. Abedes kept it going in the clutch, capitalizing on MAFEA’s failure to go back on defense quickly.

VisMinda will battle MDX in the semis next week, while Cabalen will duel the winner of the MAFEA-SWAFSO tiff.

VisMinda/PIAHI 79 – Lizama 23, Abedes 22, Palacios 14, Renguul 13, Gabaldon 3, Ruluked 2.

MAFEA/RNV 75 – Vistal 18, Bicera 18, Cosino 14, Pineda 9, de la Torre 9, Canoy 5, Manalili 2.

Scoring by quarters: 20-13, 33-31, 62-53, 79-75.