Blue Haus, Armatech gain semis seats

Blue Haus and Armatech outclassed their playoff foes to march into the semifinals of their respective divisions in the 2015 United Filipino Organization Basketball League.

The Ol’Aces’ Mike Muna, center, has nowhere to go as he is hemmed in by Blue Haus’ Shane Deleon Guerrero, left, and Ignacio Borja during the fourth quarter of their playoff game in the U20 division of the UFO caging last Wednesday night at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

In the U20 division match, Blue Haus eked out a 76-75 win over the Ol’Aces last Wednesday night at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium to join the Sonics and Armatech in the semifinals. The Ol’Aces and Gilas will fight for the fourth and last semis slot tonight.

Blue Haus won by only a point after throwing careless inbound passes in the closing seconds of the game. The lead once stood at 7 points, 76-69, just 11.9 seconds left in the game, after Shane Deleon Guerrero countered the triple of the Ol’Aces’ Karlo De Leon with a quick layup off a pitch from Ignacio Borja. De Leon retaliated with another 3-point attempt and missed, but Allen Yu was there for the putback, cutting the lead to 5, 71-76, 9.7 seconds remaining on the clock.

Dixon Kwon then went for the inbound from the baseline, but his pass was read by Jesse Santos, who hurriedly unloaded a point-blanked shot to bring the deficit down to 3, 73-76, with 3 seconds left in the game. Kwon made the same miscue, paving the way for another Santos inside basket that brought the Ol’Aces within one, 75-76, with .09 of a second left in the fourth canto.

Neither team sued for time so the game continued with Kwon committing another errant inbound pass.. Fortunately, he threw a strong pass with the ball heading past midcourt and the Ol’Aces’ Mike Muna picking it up and throwing up a prayer, which was not answered as his attempt was way too short. Before Muna went for the loose ball, Ol’Aces coaches Elias Rangamar and Preston Basa shouted from the bench, telling the former to let the ball go. Had Muna let the ball rolled to the sideline, the Ol’Aces would still have gotten the possession and have a better chance of pulling up for the game-winning basket as they would have inbounded the ball at the baseline.

Kwon made up for his late booboos by top-scoring for Blue Haus with his 19 points. Three other Blue Haus players finished in twin digits with Deleon Guerrero adding 18 and Borja and Prince Factor chipping in 16 and 12, respectively. Jesse Santos had 16 to lead the Ol’Aces.

Meanwhile, the depleted Armatech crew pulled off a 67-63 victory over Graphics/Star 6 to notch the third semis berth in the Masters division and join early qualifiers Blue Haus and LBT Appraisal to the next round.

Yosh Gabaldon, Ferdie Tobias, and Haejun Park stepped up in the absence of James Abuy, Martin Moreno, and Bruce Berline to eliminate Graphics/Star 6. The trio combined for more than half of Armatech’s total output with Gabaldon scoring 22 and Tobias and Park contributing 13 each.

Gabaldon and company knocked in most of their baskets in the second and third periods, giving Armatech enough cushion against the fourth-quarter fightback of Graphics/Star 6.

With Armatech now in the semis, Auto Motion and the Ol’Aces are left to duel for the final semis seat tonight at 6:30pm.

First Game
Armatech 67–Gabaldon 22, Park 13, Tobias 13, Malasarte 8, Gatdula 5, Poquiz 4, Montano 2.

Graphics/Star 6 63–Gonzales 13, Abadilla 12, S. Ebuen 9, Dela Cruz 8, Pablo 8, Tibayan 7, Garcia 4, Babauta 2.

Scoring by quarters: 17-14, 37-25, 54-44, 67-63.

Second Game
Blue Haus 76– Kwon 19, Deleon Guerrero 18, Borja 16, Factor 12, Malonzo 6, Feria 3, Castro 2.

Ol’Aces 75–Je. Santos 16, De Leon 13, Jo. Santos 10, Yu 6, Jones 6, Magofna, Moses 6, Nakashima 6, Muna 2.

Scoring by quarters: 20-8, 32-34, 54-48, 76-75.