Blue Haus nears sweep

Blue Haus moved a win away from sweeping the regular season of the 2013 UFO-Budweiser Masters Division Basketball League, following an 83-74 triumph against Shakir Realty last Saturday at the Gillette Multipurpose Gymnasium.

Blue Haus notched its ninth victory in as many games and will go for the sweep this Saturday against the slumping D&Q Degree, which held a 3-5 record pending the results of its match against Laguna (5-3) last night. Also set to collide yesterday were Armatech (5-4) and Pacific Islands Club, which is in a tie for the last two spots with Shakir (2-7).

With another loss, Shakir is in danger of not making it to the playoff round where only the Top 4 teams will advance. Blue Haus is already assured of the top spot in the playoffs, along with Armatech and Laguna, leaving PIC, Shakir, and Degree to battle for the last playoff seat.

Blue Haus sealed the No. 1 ranking in the playoffs as early as last week and only needed the win against Shakir Realty in the third and last game of the weekend to boost its chances for the sweep. Shakir Realty, on the other hand, failed to grab the important victory, as the former could not keep up with the latter late in the second canto.

Blue Haus was just ahead by three, 30-27, when it had a 10-4 windup in the final five minutes of the second period to stretch its advantage to 9 at the break, 40-31. Blue Haus kept going in the third period with its balance offense to open a big 69-48 lead. Shakir Realty never recovered from thereon, as it clearly failed to match up against Blue Haus’ much deeper bench.

Armatech 85, Laguna 79
In the second game, Martin Moreno drilled 28 points to lift Armatech to a win against Laguna.
Moreno fired 12 straight markers in the fourth quarter to keep Armatech’s safe distance and avenge their first round loss to Laguna. With the victory, Armatech still has a chance to finish second in the double-round robin regular season and may end up facing Laguna anew in the semifinals. The Final Four pairings will pit the No. 1 team against the No. 4 finisher and the No. 2 squad versus the No. 3 placer.

Backing up Moreno in the victory were Bruce Berline and Bernard Montano, who chipped in 17 and 16 points, respectively. Berline nailed 15 markers in the first half to keep Armatech afloat, while Montano dropped 13 of his total points in the third canto to help his team turn a 41-44 halftime deficit to a 66-60 advantage.

Montano was then held to one free throw in the fourth quarter, while Berline had only one field goal, but Moreno was there to save the day for Armatech.

Second Game
Armatech 85 – Moreno 28, Berline 17, Montano 16, Ebuen 8, Gabaldon 7, Park 6.
Laguna 79 – Catalla 26, Tabora 19, Alipio 17, Guinto 8, Zapata 4, Barrozo 3.
Scoring by quarters: 20-22, 41-42, 66-60, 85-79.

Third Game
Blue Haus 83 – Guiab 16, Mendoza 12, Rebuyon 11, Diaz 10, Pangelinan 8, Santos 4, G. Palacios 3, Factor 2.
Shakir Realty 74 – Montes 19, Canoy 11, Surima 8, Bautista 8, Moises 6, Conti 3, Imbo 2.
Scoring by quarters: 15-12, 40-31, 69-48, 83-74.