BSI-Blue Eagle eases past PC Bargain

Best Sunshine International-Blue Eagle’s Ariel Jinang attempts a fade-away jumper against Raffy Cabugawan during the fourth quarter of their game in the UFO caging last Saturday at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Best Sunshine International-Blue Eagle/SMF had another strong showing in the 2016 UFO/IT&E Inter-Organizational Basketball League following its domination of PC Bargain/Visminda, 99-85, Saturday at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

BSI-Blue Eagle set the tone for the one-sided match right from the get-go to improve its record to 5-1 and shadow leader and unbeaten Ali’i Blue Haus/Bayani (5-0). PC Bargain fell to a dismal 1-6 mark to remain at the bottom of half of the team standings in the nine-squad field.

Douglas Schmidt and Ariel Jinang teamed up in BSI-Blue Eagle’s jackrabbit start, combining for 17 points in the first quarter to lift their team to a 34-14 advantage. Schmidt and Jinang outgunned the entire PC Bargain crew in the opening canto with the former making 9 points and the latter adding 8, including 6 from the 3-point area.

With a comfortable advantage, BSI-Blue Eagle had the luxury of shuffling its players in the last three quarters and all 13 of them capitalized on the occasion, contributing to the squad’s easy win.

While BSI-Blue Eagle had multiple options on offense, it was a different story for PC Bargain, which played with a shorthanded crew having only six players available for the match. James Villacrusis carried most of the load for PC Bargain, as he sizzled for 37 points. Romualdo Alegre, Tito Alano, and Benjie Abadilla also finished in double figures with 20, 14, and 10, respectively, but most of their baskets came when the BSI-Blue Eagle had already secured the victory midway in the fourth canto.

With the win in the bag, Schmidt left the match going into the last four minutes of the final quarter and after scoring a game-high 22 points. Matt Duenas also had twin digits with his 13 despite sitting on the bench in the majority of the second half, while Jinang added 12. Tony Raho was the fourth BSI-Blue Eagle player to hit double figures with his 10 markers and he could have scored more had he not taken a breather early in the fourth frame.

The final canto began with BSI-Blue Eagle ahead by 22, 83-61, and it stretched its lead to as much as 28 with Richard Peredo, Ferdie Tobias, and Raho teaming up in a 6-0 start in the opening two minutes of the payoff period. BSI-Blue Eagle then slowed down on offense and let its guard down after tasting its biggest advantage, allowing PC Bargain to pick up garbage points and cut the deficit to a decent number.

BSI-Blue Eagle 99 — Schmidt 22, Matt Duenas 13, Jinang 12, Raho 10, Peredo 8, Palino 8, Villarin 6, Pablo 5, Hammond 4, Manny Duenas 4, Tobias 3, De La Torre 2, Echavez 2.

PC Bargain 85 — Ja. Villacrusis 37, Alegre 20, Alano 14, Abadilla 10, Cabuwagan 4.

Scoring by quarters: 34-16, 58-37, 83-61, 99-85.