Blue Haus, Mobil in deadlock

Defending champion Blue Haus and Mobil Smiles were involved in a controversial stalemate during the second game in the 2nd Domino Lux International Fraternity/Miller Lite Basketball Invitational Friendship League last Wednesday night.

The game ended in a tie after the regulation, 92-all, following the split free throws of Mobil’s Angelo Fernando. Fernando trooped to the 15-foot line with no time left after referee Lito Salas charged a foul on a Blue Haus defender in a loose ball play.

The last-second call drew a protest from Blue Haus camp, which contended that there was no time left when Salas made the whistle. Mobil coach Marvin Deocares also had his share of arguments with the referees and league officials, saying the call was made simultaneously at the end of the buzzer.

Before the controversial foul, Blue Haus was ahead by two, 92-90, after Bernardo Aquino canned a triple from the left keep off a kickoff pass from Brandon Talania, 11.3 seconds left in regulation.

Mobil sued for time and when the game resumed, Jun Estolas drove to the basket and missed. However, he got his own miss, attempted again and muffed his shot anew, but drew a foul from Aquino, 1.6 second remaining on the clock.

Estolas calmly sank the first charity and later taunted Blue Haus supporters, who egged the Mobil guard to miss his free shots. Estolas then pulled up for the second free throw and this time missed. He went up for an offensive rebound when the ball bounced toward the left shaded lane, but failed and there was a battle for the loose ball when the leather fell on the ground. Fernando had a hand on the ball against two Blue Haus defenders and Salas charged the defending champion a foul. Later, Salas could not remember who committed the foul.

Both camps celebrated when the buzzer sounded and that created confusion. Then it took league officials and the referees about 30 minutes to make the final decision. Blue Haus coach Dante Olivos, who earlier told officials they were giving the win to Mobil, agreed on the referees and table officials’ decision to award two free throws to Fernando. Fernando’s first free throw rattled off the rim and the second one hit nothing but the net for the deadlock. League officials then decided to reschedule the extra five minutes of play on a later date, as it was almost 11pm and most of the players had already left.

Blue Haus and Mobil came into last Wednesday’s game after winning their opening matches last Saturday. The match was neck-and-neck in the first 15 minutes of play before the defending champion managed to create some distance and led by as much as eight midway in the second canto behind the three straight triples of Elmer Esdrelon.

The advantage went up to as high as 10 in the third, 71-61, but Mobil recovered behind Gyles Ruluked, who was cherry-picking at the baseline, making short jumpers and reverse shots.

Mobil continued to bounce back and finally grabbed the lead, 81-80, after Fernando’s drive, 5:01 left in regulation. There were lead changes in the ensuing plays, before Mobil boosted its chances to steal the win when Bart Demapan canned a baseline jumper for their, 90-87, 44.8 seconds remaining on the clock.

Blue Haus answered with a quick two from Talania’s right baseline jumper to move within one, 89-90, and the defending champion regained possession after referee Jess Pabula caught Estolas dribbling the ball at the baseline mark after the inbound play. Blue Haus had 25.1 seconds left to work on a play and patiently moved the ball around until Talania found Aquino open for the big triple.
[B] Sunrisers 66, Andhok’s 63[/B]

Meanwhile, two more teams debuted in the DLX/Miller Lite caging with the Sunrisers edging Andhok’s Grille.

The Sunrisers escaped with the win after converting three free throws in the homestretch. The Sunrisers trailed in the second and third quarters, but outgunned Andhok’s in the fourth, 17-12, to steal the victory. Pete Lizama and Josh Sablan scored 11 of the Sunrisers’ total production in the fourth quarter.

Lizama paced the Sunrisers with 17 points, while Sablan and Jawn Joyner added 13 and 12 markers, respectively.
[B] Sunrisers 66[/B] – Lizama 17, Sablan 13, Joyner 12, Quitugua 6, Basa 5, Peters 4, Mendez 4, Manibusan 2.