San Roque ends streak, beats Wushin

San Roque prevailed in the battle of winless squads in Bracket B of the 2012 DLX/DL JOS Inter-Color Basketball League after slipping past Wushin Express, 74-65, in a delayed match last Wednesday night at the Gualo Rai Basketball Court.

San Roque played catch-up after trailing early, 3-18, before finally overtaking the winded Wushin crew in the last 31 seconds of the third to get its first win in three games. Wushin absorbed its fourth defeat in a row, as it lost steam in the end after a good start.

The match, scheduled for 8pm, began at almost 9pm, as league officials and San Roque had to iron out problems on registration dues. When the game finally kicked off, Wushin, which spent more than an hour warming up, got up to a fiery start with Dick Tibayan drilling three early triples for their 18-3 lead.

However, San Roque settled down in the last five minutes of the opening canto to move within five, 15-20, entering the second period. San Roque continued its recovery in the next two quarters and finally caught up with Wushin, 52-52, after McLain Achas made a layup, 31.8 seconds left in that canto.

San Roque went on to drill two more baskets in the closing seconds of the third to grab the driver’s seat, 56-52, entering the fourth canto. In the final period, San Roque stretched its lead to 10, 68-58, as Wushin was visibly tired and was held to only three field goals for more than eight minutes in the final frame.

Then Wushin made one final attempt to avoid a total collapse when it scored five straight points off George Villasan’s triple and Ferdie Tobias’ layup. San Roque’s lead was sliced to five, 68-63, with still 1:38 left on the clock and Wushin had a chance to move closer with Tobias going for a pair of charities after getting a steal in the San Roque inbound play and drawing a foul on Michael Achas.

However, Tobias missed both free throws, while Angelo Fernando went 4-for-4 in his two trips at the foul line in the ensuing plays and McLain Achas made a layup to seal the come-from-behind win.

Fernando paced San Roque with 22 points, while Tibayan led Wushin with 17, but was held to only 2 markers in the second half.

In Bracket A game, Mawati improved to a 2-0 record after beating 8 Division.

After leading by only a deuce at the break, 30-28, Mawati managed to widen the gap, 51-41, in the third period as it drew at least 4 points apiece from five different players.

Webster Gonfar was not among those who scored 4 points in Mawati’s balance attack in the third, but drilled the team’s first 10 points in the final canto to protect the double-digit lead.

Gonfar went on to top-score for Mawati with his 17, while Sam Avila and Francis Serrano also finished in twin digits with 14 and 13, respectively.

Daniel Dela Cruz had 16 for 8 Division, but was scoreless in the fourth canto and had only one field goal in the third. Jun Hernandez added 14 for 8 Division, which fell to 1-1 card.

Mawati 69 –Gonfar 17, Avila 14, Serrano 13, Enriquez 8, Tenepere 7, Ibanes 4, Reyes 4, Corotan 1.

8 Division 59 – Dela Cruz 16, Hernandez 14, Detera 11, Rivera 6, Alejandro 6, Baterina 4, Bernardo 1.
Scoring by quarters: 14-12, 30-28, 51-41, 69-59.

San Roque 74 – Fernando 23, Mc. Achas 11, Odicta 10, Bautista 8, Salazar 5, Lagado 2, Mi. Achas 2, Hidalgo 2.

Wushin Express 65 – Tibayan 17, Villasan 16, Tobias 16, De Belen 9, De Jesus 3, Farinas 2, Ebuen 2.

Scoring by quarters: 15-20, 33-36, 56-52, 74-65.