BSI-Blue Eagle finishes strong

BSI-Blue Eagle/SMF’s Tony Raho, right, is fouled by Stephen’s Pawnshop’s James Abuy, right, while Michael Espinosa, hidden, tries to provide help defense during the fourth quarter of their game in the UFO caging last Tuesday night at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Best Sunshine International, Ltd.-Blue Eagle/SMF won its debut in the 2016 UFO/IT&E Inter-Organizational Basketball League after routing Stephen’s Pawnshop/NMBA, 87-70, last Tuesday night at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

BSI-Blue Eagle managed to earn a 17-point winning margin despite nearly losing the driver’s seat in the fourth quarter.

Stephen’s Pawnshop moved within a deuce, 68-70, with 5:19 left, but failed to complete its rally when Douglas Schmidt got BSI-Blue Eagle out of trouble. Schmidt anchored a pivotal 15-0 run, scoring 8 straight points in that surge to put the game away for good, 85-68, with about a minute left in the match.

Tony Raho started BSI-Blue Eagle’s scoring spree with a pair of free throws off their team’s timeout and after Stephen’s Pawnshop cut the deficit 2 points. Dindo Pablo then added a triple after missing two earlier, while Schmidt scored BSI-Blue Eagle’s next 8 markers. He had an off-balance shot, a triple from the top key to beat the 24-second shot clock, and an and-1 play. Schmidt then left the game at the 1:49 mark, with his team comfortably ahead, 83-68, and a loud cheer from his teammates greeted him at the bench. Brady Hammond’s layup capped BSI-Blue Eagle’s run, while Michael Espinosa ended Stephen’s Pawnshop’s more than four-minute silence with an incomplete 3-point play, 85-70, 57 seconds left on the clock. An uncontested layup by Andrew Palino pegged the final score.

Schmidt sizzled for 40 points in BSI-Blue Eagle’s debut win, while Pablo added 12. Jack Aranda and James Abuy paced Stephen’s Pawnshop as they hit 18 points each.

Meanwhile, Cavite also won its first game of the season after blowing out PC Bargain/Visminda in the curtain raiser, 99-76.

Cavite peppered PC Bargain with triples to cruise to victory. Preston Basa buried nine shots from beyond the arc and Cavite went on to knock in 15 treys, including five from Dan Barcinas. Basa and Barcinas combined for more than half of Cavite’s output with the former firing 41 and the latter chipping in 21.

Basa was on target right from the get-go, nailing three shots from the parking lot to lift Cavite to a 26-18 advantage at the end of the first canto. He added two more in the second frame and Cavite finished the first half with three straight triples—the last one coming from Ed Cosino—for a double-digit lead, 47-35.

Basa kept going in the second half and found an ally in Barcinas, who drained four consecutive treys bridging the third and the early minutes of the fourth to break the game wide open en route to their 23-point winning margin.

First Game
Cavite 99 — Basa 41, Barcinas 21, Renguul 10, Palacios 8, Laguindam 8, Cosino 7, Barrozo 4.

PC Bargain 76 — Villacrusis 32, Reyes 11, Legaspi 10, Alegre 10, Reporsado 5, Munoz 4, Abadilla 2.

Scoring by quarters: 26-18, 47-35, 70-58, 99-76.

Second Game
BSI-Blue Eagle 87— Schmidt 40, Pablo 12, Palino 7, Raho 6, Jinang 6, Standish 4, Peredo 4, Tobias 3, Hammond 2, De La Torre 2.

Stephen’s Pawnshop 70 — Aranda 18, Abuy 18, Arellano 9, De Guzman 7, Espinosa 7, G. Aquino 4, Dela Rama 2, L. Aquino 2.

Scoring by quarters: 14-17, 42-29, 63-55, 87-70.