I Love Saipan moves closer to q’finals round

I Love Saipan boosted its chances for an outright quarterfinals berth in the 2014 DLX/IT&E Invitational Basketball League after defeating Pogi Problems, 96-79, last Monday night at the Gualo Rai Basketball Court.

The victory was the third in four games for I Love Saipan, putting them in a tie for second place with Saipan Ice & Water in Group A. Only the Top 2 teams in the group will automatically march into the quarterfinals and Ali’i had already secured the first seat with its pool best 5-0 win-loss mark. I Love Saipan and Saipan Ice squared off last night in the penultimate game of the regular season for the second automatic Round of 8 slot. The loser of the I Love Saipan-Saipan Ice tiff will join San Roque (2-3), Pogi Problems (1-4), and Garapan (0-5) I in the battle for the last two quarterfinals berths in Group A.

I Love Saipan peppered Pogi Problems with triples to cruise to the 17-point win. Ben Pelisamen led I Love Saipan’s hot shooting from downtown, as he drained seven triples and finished with 23 points. He missed his first five attempts from rainbow territory before knocking in back-to-back triples to end the first half with I Love Saipan ahead, 38-30.

Pelisamen’s two straight treys capped I Love Saipan’s 8-1 windup in the last three minutes of the second period. Before his consecutive triples, Pelisamen’s team was holding a shaky 30-29 lead, as siblings Abba and Fermin Tagle kept Pogi Problems afloat, asserting their might in the paint. However, Pogi Problems failed to keep its momentum in the closing minutes of the first half, while Pelisamen found his touch late in the second to give I Love Saipan more cushion.

Pelisamen then sat out in the majority of the third period and was scoreless, but his teammates took over, giving I Love Saipan a double-digit spread, 62-52, entering the final quarter. In the final canto, Pelisamen started for I Love Saipan and nailed five more triples.

Pogi Problems gave Pelisamen and other I Love Saipan player a lot of open looks from beyond the arc and the former paid the price, as the latter’s last six field goals all came from the 3-point area.

In the first game, Fliptop ended a three-game slide after downing JP World, 85-79.

Flip Top improved to a 2-2 record and was scheduled to play its final game in the regular season against Gwap Gang (4-0) last night. A Flip Top win would tie the team with Hite (3-2) for second place, but the latter will still win the tiebreak and the second quarterfinals berth due to the win-over-the-other rule. Gwap Gang has notched the first quarterfinals berth with its unbeaten record, while JP World (2-3), ICS Shooters (2-3), and Digital Motion (1-4) will slug it out for the two remaining quarterfinals seats.

After trailing by a hair in the first period, 17-18, Flip Top seized control of the match in the second period and never looked back. Lerio Pagarao paced Flip Top with his 19 markers.

First Game
Flip Top 85 – Pagarao 19, Quitugua 15, Isip 13, Sablan 7, Barbo 6, Hockett 6, Aguon 3, Vidal 3, Jung 2.
JP World 76 – J. Camacho 19, Manalo 14, Jose 12, Sacramento 8, De Leon 7, D. Camacho 6, Sison 5.
Scoring by quarters: 17-18, 36-32, 62-50, 85-76.

Second Game
I Love Saipan 96 – Pelisamen 23, M. Olaitiman 15, Capalad 12, R. Olopai 11, Manglona 8, Sharry 7, Ruluked 4, J. Olaitiman 4, Aldan 3, Camacho 3, J. Olopai 2.
Pogi Problems 79 – Lerio 26, Madreo 10, A. Tagle 8, F. Tagle 7, Jugos 7, S. Quemado 6, K. Quemado 2, Orbeta 2, Espinosa 2.
Scoring by quarters: 22-15, 38-30, 62-52, 96-79.