Island Manpower, Docomo bag close wins

Docomo Pacific’s Alverick Alvarez is hammered by Maplas’ Ed Yalung during a fastbreak play in the third quarter of their game in the DL Corp. caging last Tuesday night at the Gillette Multipurpose Gymnasium.
(ROSELYN B. MONROYO)

Island Manpower slipped past Puerto Rico Bento in overtime in the first game, 107-105, to remain undefeated in two games, while Docomo Pacific edged Maplas, 88-83, to enter the win column after dropping its first two matches.

Syl Teregeyo and Jun Tabora teamed up in the crucial play for Island Manpower ith the former doing the inbound from the right sideline in the last 1.8 seconds of the extension period and feeding the latter inside for the game-winning basket. Tabora caught Puerto Rico Bento defenders flat-footed when he made a quick curl to his right inside the shaded lane less than five feet away from the basket and got Teregeyo’s pass for the layup.

In the second match, Docomo also showed poise in the clutch to eke out the 5-point win against Maplas (0-2). With the game tied last at 83-all, with 1:23 left on the clock, James Villacrusis canned a long jumper from the top key to put Docomo on top. Angelo Fernando tried to retaliate quickly, but missed a fallaway jumper near the free throw line, while Tony Diaz was fouled on the other end and split his charities for the defending champion’s 3-point lead, 86-83.

Maplas still had several chances to move closer or stole the lead with about a minute remaining on the clock, but Edmark Mendoza threw an errant pass to Jojo Guinto at the baseline and Rommel Usi and Rolly Paraiso muffed their 3-point attempts in their next three possessions. Docomo also missed four free throws that would have sealed the game early before Marlon Sison went 2-for-2 from the stripe in the last 14.2 seconds to peg the final score.

Sison and Diaz top-scored for Docomo with 20 points apiece, while Villacrusis added 17. The trio hit triples that kept Docomo in the game in the second half, combining for nine treys, five of them came in the final canto.

First Game
Island Manpower 107 – Pangelinan 26, Tabora 20, Capalad 16, Bisana 12, Lizama 12, Teregeyo 10, Tobias 10, Barrozo 2.
Puerto Rico Bento 105 – Shary 29, Jones 21, Fitial 19, Lansang 10, Salalila 2, Banzagale 2, Galulu 2.
Scoring by quarters: 28-26, 52-50, 74-78, 96-96, 107-107 (OT).

Second Game
Docomo Pacific 88 – Sison 20, Diaz 20, Villacrusis 17, Camacho 11, Kautz 5, Sanciangco 4, White 4, Alvarez 2, Berline 2.
Maplas 83 – Mendoza 24, Fernando 19, R. Usi 12, Paraiso 11, Yalung 4, Lontoc 3, Aniciete 3, M. Usi 2.
Scoring by quarters: 17-16, 38-43, 61-61, 88-83.