Grillin’ upsets PIC/NVM

Grillin’ barged into the win column in fashion, following a 91-84 upset over defending champion Pacific Islands Club/NVM last Saturday during the second game in the 3rd Annual Shirley’s Coffee Shop Invitational Basketball League at the Gillette Multipurpose Gymnasium.

With Grillin’ victory, PIC absorbed its first loss after a 4-0 start. The defending champion still leads the league, but now shares the top spot with Mobil and DFS, while Grillin’ (1-3) moved up two notches from the cellar.

Lerio Pagarao and Sonny Lerio sizzled for Grillin’, as they scored 32 and 31 points in the seven-point victory. Pagarao drilled 12 of his total points in the fourth quarter, including five important free throws, to foil PIC’s repeated comeback bids. Lerio added six and was 4-for-5 from the foul line in the payoff quarter.

The fourth period started with Grillin’ ahead by double-digits, 69-59. PIC tried to come back behind the combined 12 points of siblings JR and Jessie Mina, but the defending champion ran out of time in the end as it failed to contain Pagarao and Lerio.

Lerio exploded early, firing 10 points, but PIC, which played without its several key players, hung in there and knotted the count, 22-all.

In the second canto, Grillin’ managed to find a breathing room, taking a 45-37 halftime lead. Lerio, who canned two triples in the opening canto, added two more shots from downtown in the second frame, while Pagarao converted one long shot and had nine markers. PIC failed to keep pace with Grillin’ in the second canto, as it had limited options on offense with only JR Mina nailing more than one field goal for the defending champion.

Grillin’ made it a double-digit lead in the third period, as Leo Galarse found his rhythm at the start of the second half, nailing 10 points after a four-point production in the first half. Lerio and Pagarao backed up Galarse as they combined for 12 markers in the third.

Galarse slowed down in the fourth, but not Lerio and Pagarao, who delivered the needed baskets for Grillin’s big win.

PSS 104, Wushin 58

The curtain-raiser last Saturday had a lopsided result with PSS/McGraw-Hill pounding Wushin for its third win in four games.

PSS moved up to solo second place, two victories behind the leaders, while Wushin fell to a 2-3 slate.

Dave Sablan had a field day on offense, as he scored 44 points. Maverick Itibus and Walter Mendez chipped in 19 and 15, respectively.

PSS broke the game wide open in the third quarter where it outscored Wushin, 31-12. Wushin faced a manageable deficit at the break, 32-44, before PSS turned on the heat in the third behind the 13 points of Sablan, who outgunned the entire crew of the opposing team.

Then in the fourth quarter, PSS went on to record the biggest winning margin this season, as it held Wushin to 14 points.

First Game

PSS/McGraw-Hill 104 – Sablan 44, Itibus 19, Mendez 15, Buniag 6, Cabrera 6, Palacios 4, Fitial 2, Manibusan 2.

Wushin 58 – Tabora 20, Tobias 11, Villasan 10, O. Ebuen 6, Farinas 4, Tibayan 4, De Jesus 3.

Scoring by quarters: 20-14, 44-32, 73-44, 104-58.

Second Game

Grillin’ 91 – Pagarao 32, Lerio 31, Galarse 17, Rotap 4, Herrera 4, Hernandez 2, G. Loste 1.

PIC/NVM 84 – JR. Mina 15, Yabut 14, Rasa 13, Tamayo 12, Ortiz 8, Je. Mina 8, Diaz 8, Fernando 6.

Scoring by quarters: 22-22, 45-37, 69-59, 91-84.