Blue Haus beats Hawaiian Rock

Blue Haus’ Junar Guiab is fouled by Hawaiian Rock’s Noel Mateo during the fourth quarter of their game in the Emon Lodge caging last Monday night at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Ed Pangelina took care of business outside for Blue Haus, while Junar Guiab and Bruce Berline cherry-picked in the shaded lane to give their team a winning debut. Pangelinan led all scorers with his 24 points, 12 of them came from the 3-point area, and he drilled Blue Haus’ last 10 points. Guaib chipped in 20, while Berline also finished in twin digits, tallying 17.

Despite Blue Haus edge on firepower, Hawaiian Rock managed to stay in the game in the first half before the former seized full control of the match in the third. Blue Haus went on a 31-20 scoring binge in the pivotal third canto to turn a slim 33-32 halftime lead to a 64-52 advantage. Blue Haus padded the lead to as much as 16 in the fourth period before letting its guard down a bit past the halfway mark of that frame, allowing Hawaiian Rock to get garbage points and cut the deficit to single digit.

With Hawaiian Rock making easy baskets, four of its players scored in double figures with Ronald Abaygar leading the way with his 15 markers. Lilio Tiples contributed 14, while Jerry Lopez and Jack Palacios added 10 apiece.

Abaygar made six of his total points in the first period, lifting Hawaiian Rock a 17-14 lead after 10 minutes of play. Hawaiian Rock went on to lose the driver’s seat in the second canto, as it failed to neutralize Guiab, who fired 11 points, including nine straight markers in the latter part of the first half.

Blue Haus kept the upper hand in the second half, as Pangelinan, who was scoreless in the first half, began connecting from outside. The Blue Haus sharpshooter buried two triples in the third and scored 14 points in that canto, upping his team’s lead to 12, entering the fourth canto.

Pangelinan then took a breather in the first half of the fourth frame, but Berline was there to give Blue Haus easy baskets in the paint to keep the squad’s safe distance. The Blue Haus bruiser dropped 10 of the team’s first 12 points in the fourth period. Guiab scored the other two points, while Pangelinan put the finishing touches on the victory when he reported back to the floor and registered a string of 10 points.

Blue Haus 86 – Pangelinan 24, Guiab 20, Berline 17, Diaz 8, Santos 5, Moises 4, Manabat 4, Factor 4.

Hawaiian Rock 79 – Abaygar 15, Tiples 14, Lopez 10, Palacios 10, Dela Cruz 4, De Belen 3, Saplan 2, Guiang 2.

Scoring by quarters: 14-17, 33-32, 64-52, 86-79.