CUC, Joeten complete semis cast

Joeten’s Juanito Sambile drives to the basket against Docomo players during their game in the 2nd JP World Corp. Customer Appreciation Basketball League last Wednesday at the Gillette Multipurpose Gymnasium. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Commonwealth Utilities Corp. and Joeten arranged their semis series in the 2nd JP World Corp. Customer Appreciation Basketball League after prevailed in their respective playoff games last Wednesday night at the Gillette Multipurpose Gymnasium.

The seventh-seeded CUC stunned the second-ranked MBI/KFC in the first game, 79-76, while the No. 3 ranked Joeten cruised past No. 6 Docomo, 76-62, in the second match to complete the semis cast. Top-ranked Tan Holdings and fifth-seeded McDonald’s had earlier set their best-of-three semis duel after eliminating Mariana Resort and Saipan Ice, respectively, last Monday.

CUC and Joeten soon followed Tan Holdings and McDonald’s to the Final Four after capitalizing on their foes fourth quarter collapse.

Behind by 14 at the end of the third quarter, 50-64, CUC leaned on Eugene Manglona in the fourth quarter to pull off a come-from-behind victory. Manglona dropped 10 of his team-high 23 points in the final canto to give CUC the third semis berth. He also drew enough support from his teammates, including George Poquiz, who nailed 5 of his 9 markers in the payoff period, including a pair of free throws that sealed the win for CUC.

CUC was clinging to a 1-point lead, 77-76, after a split from Manglona when MBI/KFC failed to cash in on its offensive set and then fouled Poquiz in the ensuing play. After Poquiz made the important charities, MBI/KFC was left with three seconds to pull up for a shot, but failed to do so as it fumbled the ball and time expired.

MBI/KFC folded up in the fourth frame as fatigue took its toll o nthe favored team. MBI/KFC played with only six players and was down to 5 points midway in the second quarter as Justine Zapanta got injured when he fell down after a rebound play. Gassed out, MBI/KFC scored only 12 points in the fourth period for its least productive quarter in the contest.

On the other hand, CUC more than doubled-up MBI/KFC’s output with Manglona drawing help from his four other teammates.

In the second half, Joeten poured 16 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to finish off Docomo.

Before its pivotal run, Joeten squandered an 11-point advantage late in the third period, 50-39, when Docomo had an 8-1 windup in the last two minutes of the penultimate quarter.

In the final canto, Sid Quan opened Joeten’s scoring with a baseline jumper and his teammates joined the spree for a commanding 67-47 spread.

A split free throw from Tony Diaz at the 5:10 mark of the final frame ended Docomo’s long silence and the team finally got its first field goal in that period a few seconds later off Diaz’s fastbreak layup.

The Docomo guard picked up more garbage points in the ensuing plays, while Juanito Sambile put the finishing touches in Joeten’s victory, firing the team’s last 9 markers.

Game 1 of the Joeten-CUC semis showdown will be played tonight at 8pm, while Tan Holdings and McDonald’s will begin their own Final Four duel at 6:30pm.

First Game
CUC 79 – Manglona 23, Benavente 14, Santos 10, Simada 9, Poquiz 9, Lieto 8, Nunez 6.

MBI/KFC 76 – Devero 30, Capalad 19, Omampo 13, Zapanta 4, Sitchon 4, Viola 4.

Scoring by quarters: 22-19, 41-46, 50-64, 79-76.

Second Game
Joeten 76 – Lauron 22, Kwon 20, Sambile 14, Rasa 12, Quan 8.

Docomo 62 – Diaz 25, Manibusan 10, Griffin 8, Sablan 4, White 4, Sanciangco 3, Sanchez 2, Joson 2, Lizama 2.

Scoring by quarters: 18-11, 33-24, 51-47, 76-62.