San Antonio ousts NMI Contractor

San Antonio clinched the last semis berth in the 2nd DL Corp. Invitational Basketball League after eking out a 69-67 win and eliminating NMI Contractor last Monday night at the Gualo Rai Basketball Court.

San Antonio came back from a 12-point deficit and kept its poise in the fourth quarter to join I Love Saipan, Docomo Pacific, and Island Floral in the Final Four. Island Floral earlier gained the third semis ticket after routing Chinatown in the first game last Monday, 69-52.

The battle for the fourth and last semis berth was not decided until the final buzzer with NMI Contractor missing the cut after Jun Pantaleon faltered on a desperation trey. Pantaleon could have moved closer to the basket for a higher percentage shot, as there was about four seconds left when he pulled the trigger from the right key and the driving lane was wide open with San Antonio’s defense sagging on the opposite side. Pantaleon’s long jumper fell short and the ball dropped near the left baseline with Nevin Salem picking it up as time expired.

The NMI Contractor quarterback was forced to take the crucial shot, as his team had no timeout left to set up a play after the opposing parties exchanged turnovers in the closing seconds of the fourth. NMI Contractor had 8.6 seconds for its last offensive set and instead of receiving the ball, gunner Leo Galarse did the inbound and passed it to Rocyl Ritual, who eventually kicked the ball out to Pantaleon.

NMI Contractor was given a chance to either tie the game with a 2-point field or win it with a triple after Melvin Cadiang muffed a pair of free throws in the last 13.7 seconds of the match and San Antonio committed the last turnover in a series of careless plays from both camps. Cadiang’s crucial misses came after Trevor Ogumoro hit a big triple from the left corner to cut the deficit to a deuce.

The NMI Contractor-San Antonio playoff game had a down-to-the-wire finish after the former bungled a 12-point lead, 28-16, in the second quarter. Salem helped San Antonio cut NMI Contractor’s lead, drilling 6 of his 9 points in the second canto that ended with the southern-based team behind by only 3, 31-34.

San Antonio continued its recovery in the third and this time got a big lift from Bryle Alegre, who fired 10 points in that frame to give his team its biggest lead, 50-45. San Antonio was then stuck to 50 points in the remaining two minutes of the third, allowing NMI Contractor to move within 1, 49-50, entering the final canto.
San Antonio was still without a basket in the first three minutes of the fourth period, while NMI Contractor scored three early field goals off Don Brennan’s back-to-back layups and Galarse’ fastbreak shot to take a 55-50 advantage.

A timely timeout restored order back to San Antonio, as Alegre returned to the game and anchored the team’s rally anew. The mobile forward scored 7 points in the fourth quarter and went 3-for-4 in the foul line in the closing minutes of the game. He also teamed up with Salem in harassing Ogumoro at the backcourt to force a turnover and set up Cadiang for two free throws that gave his squad a 5-point lead, 69-64, going into the last 23 seconds of the match.

Alegre finished with 25 points, while Jack Aranda added 13. Galarse paced NMI Contractor with his 19 points, while Ogumoro and Brennan contributed 17 apiece.

Meanwhile, the other playoff game between Island Floral and Chinatown ended up with the former cruising to the 17-point win after the latter collapsed in the fourth canto.
Chinatown was behind by only 4 after the third period, 46-50, but bowed out of the competition, following its 6-point production in the payoff canto. No Chinatown player scored more than one field goal, as Shane Deleon Guerrero, Vince Iglecias, and Dixon Kwon were held to 2 points each.

In contrast, Island Floral drew enough contributions from five players in the fourth with Jun Tabora leading the way with his 10 points. Cecilio Bisana added 4 points, while three others chipped in at least one basket apiece. Bisana top-scored for Island Floral with his 20 points, while Tabora had 18. Deleon Guerrero had 16 for Chinatown.

With the victory, Island Floral is paired against San Antonio in the second semis game tonight at 8pm. In the first semis match at 6:30pm, Docomo Pacific takes on giant-killer I Love Saipan, which eliminated two favored teams.

First Game
Island Floral 69 – Bisana 20, Tabora 19, Standish 8, Jugos 5, Lieto 4, Kaipat 4, Norita 3, Tobias 2, Teregeyo 2.

Chinatown 52 – Deleon Guerrero 16, Iglecias 12, Kwon 9, Lizama 6, Zapanta 5, Sacramento 2.

Scoring by quarters: 12-18, 32-28, 50-46, 69-52.

Second Game
San Antonio 69 – Alegre 25, Aranda 13, Salem 9, Espinosa 7, Cadiang 5, Caro 4, Villanueva 2, De Guzman 2.
NMI Contractor 67 – Galarse 19, Brennan 17, Ogumoro 17, Ritual 6, Inos 5, Pantaleon 3.
Scoring by quarters: 12-12, 31-34, 50-49, 69-67.