Joeten rolls to fourth straight victory

Joeten’s Syl Teregeyo sneaks into the defense of a Saipan Ice & Water player during an earlier game in the JP World caging this month at the Gillette Multipurpose Gymnasium. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Joeten rolled to its fourth consecutive victory after a 0-2 start and with its 4-2 mark it remained at the top half of the team standings in the nine-squad field. Joeten is at third place behind unbeaten Shirley’s Coffee Shop (5-0) and Micronesian Brokers, Inc/Anchor (4-1) and ahead of Public School System (3-2), McDonald’s (3-2), CUC (2-3), Saipan Ice & Water (1-3), Top Development, Inc. (0-4), and Docomo Pacific (0-5). The Top 2 teams after the round-robin regular season will automatically advance to the semis, while the No. 3 to 6 finishers will battle for the last two Final Four berths and the bottom three will be eliminated.

Joeten kept its hopes for the automatic semis seat alive and stretched its streak after playing another unselfish basketball against the struggling CUC. Four players hit double figures in Joeten’s lopsided win over CUC and the rest of the team combined for 22 points.

Alex Lauron and Kevin De Leon top-scored for Joeten with 17 points, Syl Teregeyo added 12, while Ferdie Tobias chipped in 11. Jason Sablan, who was part of the team’s staring lineup contributed 8, while Rio Jacob came off the bench and logged 7 markers. Dean Borja, Dixon Kwon, and Juanito Samile also made it to the board, nailing one field goal apiece.

With Joeten getting points from every player it fielded in the game, it took an early double-digit advantage, 24-13, after 10 minutes of play. Seven different players lit up the scoreboard for Joeten in the first period, while only two players drilled more than one field goal for CUC.

Joeten maintained its 20-plus production in the next two quarters, firing 22 and 26 to enter the fourth quarter with a whopping 72-48 lead. CUC only hit the 20-point mark in the third with its 25 markers, but was held to a dismal 10 points in the third to face a big deficit with only 10 minutes left in the match. CUC went on to post its lowest output in the fourth canto as it scored only 9 points. Actually, both teams slowed down in the final frame with Joeten settling for 11 points as it already secured the win even before the payoff period started.

Joeten 83 – Lauron 17, De Leon 17, Teregeyo 12, Tobias 11, Sablan 8, Jacob 7, Borja 3, Kwon 2, Sambile 2.

CUC 57 – Mizutani 14, Benavente 12, Lieto 10, Santos 7, Simada 6, Nunez 2, Poquiz 2.

Scoring by quarters: 24-13, 46-23, 72-48, 83-57.