DFS Galleria on a roll

 DFS Galleria stretched its winning streak to three after downing GPPC, Inc., 104-91, during the second game in the 3rd Annual Shirley’s Coffee Shop Invitational Basketball League last Tuesday night at the Gillette Multipurpose Gymnasium.

DFS with its 3-0 record now shares the top spot in the 10-team field with Mobil, while GPPC is at the middle of the pack with its 1-2 slate.

GPPC gave DFS a good fight in the first half and until midway in the third before the latter pushed up the tempo of the game and pulled away off several fastbreak layups.

The match was tied last at 48-all, with less than six minutes left in the third quarter before DFS forced GPPC to several turnovers and missed shots and then countered with easy baskets on its frontcourt. Pete Iguel converted a bundle of fastbreak shots and had 15 points in the third quarter alone, while Dan Barcinas and Jack Lizama combined for 16, giving DFS a 69-57 lead.

Before DFS’s late third-quarter surge, GPPC managed to take a 38-36 halftime lead behind the 10 points of Randy Mungcal in the second quarter.

Mungcal finished with a season-high 44 points, making 25 of them in the fourth period. However, he was the only GPPC player to score more than three points in the payoff canto, as he single handedly tried to overhaul DFS’ lead, but failed.

DFS survived Mungcal’s fourth-quarter explosion and still walked away with the double-digit winning margin with Iguel and Quincy Johnson playing steady in the fourth frame and drawing enough support from their teammates. Ten players piled in points for DFS in the final canto, while only five hit the scoreboard for GPPC.

Iguel paced DFS with 28 points, Barcinas chipped in 18, and Jack Lizama and Johnson contributed 17 and 13, respectively. Won Joo Jung was the fifth DFS player to break into double digits with 11 points.

Alex Ocampo drilled 17 for GPPC, but had only two points in the fourth, while Dennis Morales was also limited to one field goal in the final canto and finished with 12.

Fiesta 87, Wushin 73

Fiesta Resort & Spa barged into the win column after two failed attempts, following a 14-point victory over Wushin.

Fiesta led from start to finish, foiling Wushin’s repeated comeback bids to hand the latter its second straight loss after an 87-67 debut win over GPPC.

The quartet of Elmer Esdrelon, Ivan Devero, Brandon Talania, and Jawn Joyner finally got their acts together to give Fiesta its first win. Esdrelon scored 23 points, Devero chipped in 19, and Talania and Joyner added 15 for the team’s balance offense.

Talania drilled 10 of his total points in the opening canto to lift Fiesta to a 22-11 advantage. The lead was sliced to four at the break, 39-35, as Wushin outgunned Fiesta in the second canto, 24-17.

Wushin remained in contention in the third, 60-64, behind the 11 markers of Jun Tabora. Fiesta leaned on Esdrelon’s 12 third-quarter points to retain the lead with a full period to go.

Then in the final canto, Wushin ran out of offensive options, while Devero, Esdrelon, Joyner delivered for Fiesta. No Wushin played scored more than three points in the fourth quarter and the losing team was limited to 13 markers. Fiesta logged 23 with nine coming from Devero and five each from Esdrelon and Joyner.

First Game

Fiesta Resort 87 – Esdrelon 23, Devero 19, Talania 16, Joyner 15, Moises 9, Ong 2, Salazar 2, Berline 1.

Wushin 73 – Tabora 18, Tobias 12, Tibayan 10, Villasan 9, Santos 8, Cosino 8, Patawaran 4, O. Ebuen 1.

Scoring by quarters: 22-11, 39-35, 64-60, 87-73.

Second Game

DFS 104 – Iguel 28, Barcinas 18, Lizama 17, Johnson 13, Jung 11, Sablan 4, Guiab 4, Chavez 3, Marino 2, Rivera 2, Larrioza 2.

GPPC 91 – Mungcal 44, Ocampo 17, Morales 12, Jalandoni 6, A. Tagle 4, Tolentino 2, Siega 2.

Scoring by quarters: 18-15, 36-38, 69-57, 104-91.