GPPC stuns Grillin’ for first win

GPPC broke into the win column in the 3rd Annual Shirley’s Coffee Shop Invitational Basketball League after pulling off an upset over Grillin’, 80-72, last Saturday at the Gillette Multipurpose Gymnasium.

The much older GPPC players capitalized on Grillin’s too much complacency in the second quarter to bounce back from their 67-87 debut loss against Wushin in the league opener. Grillin’ was slightly favored in the match, having a younger roster, led by Lerio Pagarao, and the core of the team that won the championship in the Blue Haus caging this year. However, after showing some brilliance in the first eight minutes of the first quarter, Grillin’ played lax, allowing GPPC to catch up in the second period and hand the former its second loss in as many games.

Grillin led early, 17-5, and ended the opening canto with a 19-10 advantage. Then in the second canto, GPPC began picking up its scoring with Alex Ocampo nailing 12 points to put his team on top at the break, 34-30.

GPPC hung on to the driver’s seat in the third, 50-45, as Grillin’ failed to catch fire in that period with no player making more than one field goal for the squad. Lerio Pagarao scored only four points and went 2-for-4 at the stripe, while Ocampo and Oscar Jalandoni combined for 10 markers for GPPC.

In the fourth period, it was Randy Mungcal who carried the cudgels for GPPC, making up for his so-so game in the first three quarters. Mungcal had 12 points in the fourth canto after scoring only five in the first three frames. He also canned crucial free throws to seal the win for GPPC, going 4-for-8 from the foul line. Ocampo chipped in seven, including three charities.

Grillin’ tried catching up in the fourth, but fell short after missing several charities. The team went 8-for-18 from the stripe.

Ocampo paced GPPC with 29 points, while Pagarao nailed 15 for Grillin’, but could have made more points if he did not baby most of his fastbreak shots.

In the first game, DFS gained a share of the lead with Mobil (2-0) after beating Wushin.

DFS controlled majority of the match, but was threatened in the last two minutes of the game when Wushin moved within four, 74-78.

A rally-halting jumper from Junar Guiab saved DFS.

Jack Lizama, Won Joo Jung, and Dan Barcinas top-scored for DFS with 13 points apiece, while five other players drilled at least six points each for the winning team. Jun Tabora led Wushin’s losing cause with his game-high 26 markers.

Jung debuted for DFS with seven points in the first period, lifting his team to a 23-12 advantage. DFS kept the double-digit lead in the next two quarters behind Barcinas, Lizama, and Quincy Johnson, before Wushin attempted a comeback in the fourth.

DFS Galleria 84[/B] – Jung 13, Lizama 13, Barcinas 13, Guiab 8, Rivera 8, Johnson 7, Iguel 7, Sablan 6, Miron 3, Chavez 2, Marino 2, Larrioza 2.
[B] Wushin Corp. 76[/B] – Tabora 26, Cosino 14, Santos 8, Ebuen 7, Patawaran 5, Villasan 4, Tibayan 4, Tobias 4, Farinas 2.
[B] Scoring by quarters:[/B] 23-12, 43-32, 63-48, 84-76.

GPPC 80[/B] — Ocampo 29, Mungcal 17, Sampang 11, Tolentino 8, M. Tagle 5, A. Tagle 4, Jalandoni 4, Siega 2.