Blue Haus vs QQ Rent A Car in finals

 Blue Haus is back in the finals and will be defending the championship in the 2nd Domino Lux International Fraternity/Miller Lite Basketball Invitational Friendship League against the streaking QQ Rent A Car this Saturday at the Gualo Rai Basketball Court.

Blue Haus and QQ Rent A Car arranged their title duel, following separate semis wins last Friday. QQ Rent A Car took the first finals berth after stunning pennant champion Sunrisers/Island Apprel in the opening semis game, 94-86, while Blue Haus escaped past the hard-fighting Andhok’s Grille in the other Final Four match, 65-63.

Andhok’s, which pulled off an upset against second-ranked Mobil at the start of the playoffs, this time could not move past Blue Haus after falling to pressure in the closing seconds of the crucial semis tiff.

Andhok’s had a chance to either send the game in overtime or win with a triple when it had the last possession in the closely fought match. However, the Boy Garcia-coached squad could not pull up for a shot in the last 14 seconds, as young gun Raymark Castro instead of going strong to the basket, backpedaled, dribbled too much, trying to avoid Blue Haus defenders chasing him, and still had the ball on his hands when time expired.

Blue Haus saved a two-point win despite trailing by as much as eight early in the fourth quarter. Elmer Esdrelon hit back-to-back treys to anchor a Blue Haus comeback and when the game entered the final one minute, the defending champion managed to build a four-point cushion, 65-61, off Badong Camacho’s undergoal stab and Junar Guaib’s jumper.

However, Andhok’s refused to give up, as after Gino Libuw missed two free throws, Jorge De Guzman got the offensive board for a putback, cutting the lead to two, 63-65, 48.3 seconds left on the clock.

Blue Haus tried to melt the clock in its next possession and with one second left from the 24-second shot clock, Jomar Tumaquip attacked the basket and missed. However, Elmer Esdrelon hustled for the rebound and dribbled out of the paint. There was a one second difference between the game clock and Blue Haus’ shot clock and instead of wasting more time, Esdrelon decided to drive to the basket, but Castro tapped the ball from behind. De Guzman then picked up the loose ball and passed it to Castro, whose inexperience in a tough game showed, as he could not decide whether to wait for his teammates and give up the ball or go strong to the basket.

Esdrelon paced Blue Haus in a low-scoring game with his 17 markers. De Guzman led all scorers with 21, including 12 straight points in the third quarter where Andhok’s gained momentum, before falling short in the end.

In contrast, QQ showed poise in the homestretch against the pennant champion and silenced the Sunrisers’ gunners to advance to the finals.

QQ held the Sunrisers’ Preston Basa to four points off one field goal and two free throws. Basa’s lone field goal was the Sunrisers’ first basket in game and he missed a bundle of outside shots in the fourth period.

Another Sunrisers’ shooter, Josh Sablan, struggled, making only a triple late in the fourth quarter. His triple cut QQ’s once 12-point lead to seven, 83-90, but time was not on the Sunrisers’ side with less than a minute left on the clock, while QQ went 2-for-4 from the line to secure the win.

QQ led by only five at the end of the third off Wowie Abuel’s four straight points, 64-59, but it quickly built a double-digit cushion after starting the fourth with a 6-0 run, 70-59. Lerio Pagarao made four of those six points off fastbreak layups and QQ protected the lead, as it used its quickness to squeeze inside the paint and score several undergoal shots.

The Sunrisers, which had the advantage inside, opted for outside attempts and faltered on most occasions in the fourth quarter, missing a chance to make it to the finals after topping the regular season. Incidentally, the Sunrisers also lost to QQ in the elimination round, 59-63.

First Game

QQ Rent A Car 94 – Mangali 25, Paraiso 17, Pagarao 16, Sison 11, Abuel 8, Mateo 4, Camacho 4, Montes 4.

Sunrisers/Island Apparel 86 – Lizama 32, Joyner 26, Mendez 9, Manibusan 4, Basa 4, J. Quitugua 4, Sablan 3, Peters 2, R. Quitugua 2.

Scoring by quarters: 25-21, 39-41, 64-59, 94-86.

Second Game

Blue Haus 65 – Esdrelon 17, Talania 14, Aquino 10, Guiab 9, Camacho 8, Itaas 5, Tumaquip 1.

Andhok’s Grille 63 – De Guzman 21, Libuw 16, Castro 10, Wesley 7, Umali 3, Capalad 2.

Scoring by quarters: 14-9, 26-28, 43-48, 65-63.