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Dolphins survive Palau comeback try
The Marianas Dolphins survived Palau’s comeback bid to escape with a 61-56 decision in the opening game of the 2015 Micronesian Basketball Tournament U15 yesterday at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.
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- The Marianas Dolphins’ Jude Tengco (13) challenges the defense of Palau’s Ubai Kingzio, left, and Reece Reklai in the opening game of the 2015 Micronesian Basketball Tournament U15 yesterday at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium. (Jon Perez)
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- Christian Arceo, 10, of the Marianas Dolphins grabs the rebound against Palau’s J.T. Timarong and Wallace Worswick. (Jon Perez)
The Dolphins seemed headed for an easy win in the regional competition for players in the western division in the Under-15 age group when they enjoyed a 15-point spread, 53-38, with 7:51 left in the fourth quarter.
But the Palau bets, behind M.J. Baysa’s 7-point swing trimmed that lead to 56-60 with 35.6 seconds remaining in the final canto.
Time, however, was not on their side and several missed shots down the stretch doomed Palau and the game could have turned into their favor if they managed to convert those closed-range layups.
Christian Arceo’s split free throw pegged the final count.
An 11-2 exchange at the start of the fourth period helped the Dolphins turn a 42-36 edge to that 15-point advantage highlighted by Jun Alipio’s 3-pointer.
Christian Arceo led the Dolphins’ scoring with 17 points while Alipio added 11 more. Dalton Dancoe and Aaron Ogumoro chipped in 10 markers each.
Wallace Worswick paced Palau’s losing cause with a game-high 19 points followed by Baysa’s 17 markers.
The Marianas Alu’u, Marianas Tataga, and Guam are the other competing teams. Guam was playing the Alu’u at press time.
Two games will be played everyday in the youth tournament, which will run from July 12 to 18. The top four teams after the round-robin play will advance to the playoffs where the top ranked squad taking on No. 4 for the first finals berth while the second seed battle No. 3 for the other championship slot.
Games will be played at 4pm and 6pm while the battle for third is set at 9am on July 18, Saturday, to be followed by the championship at 11am.
Scores:
Marianas Dolphins 61—Arceo 17, Alipio 11, Dancoe 10, Ogumoro 10, Tengco 5, Cobacha 4, Factor 4.
Palau 56—Warswick 19, Baysa 17, Ganac 9, Reklai 5, Timarong 3, Tarkong 2, De Lina 1.
