MJD advances to division finals

MJD Enterprise’s Jun Estolas pulls up for a jumper against Islander’s Irvyn Malonzo during an earlier game in the open east division of the San Antonio caging at the San Antonio court. (Contributed Photo)

MJD Enterprise moved into the finals of the east division of the 2015 San Antonio Community Action Network Basketball League after eking out an 80-76 victory against Ask Y U B last Monday at the San Antonio court.

MJD earned a living from the foul line in the fourth quarter to overhaul a 10-point deficit and foil Ask Y U B’s bid for an upset in their semis duel. MJD scored 10 of its last 13 points from the stripe to turn things around after falling behind by 10 midway in the final canto, 59-69.

Errol Peredo and Jack Lizama knocked in four charities apiece and the former went on to tally 9 straight points in the fourth frame to spearhead MJD’s recovery. Jun Estolas, who had only one field goal in the first three periods and was scoreless in the second and third, also stepped up in the fourth, adding 6 markers, including a triple in the closing minutes of the match.

Lizama top-scored for MJD with his 24 points, while Freddie Pelisamen chipped in 18 and Peredo and Estolas also finished in twin digits with 12 and 11, respectively. Donovan Brennan and Djay Ong paced Ask Y U B after tallying 18 markers apiece.

MJD and Ask Y U B fought for the finals berth of the upper bracket and the duel between the No. 1 and 4 seeds of the east division was back to square one after the opening canto, 17-all. MJD struggled offensive early in the game, but managed to keep up with Ask Y U B by making its free throws, while the latter got two field goals apiece from Dave Camacho, Brennan, and Ong.

Ong continued to hit his mark in the second quarter, posting 8 more points to give Ask Y U B a 37-31 halftime advantage.

Lizama sliced Ask Y U B’s lead to a deuce at the end of the third, 55-57, as the former CNMI Men’s National Team member got his offensive game going at the start of the second half, drilling 13 straight points and 3 more late in that period. Before his third-quarter explosion, Lizama registered only 4 points, converting only one field goal each in the first and second quarter.

With MJD threatening Ask Y U B, Brennan, who was held to 1 point in the third frame, gave his team more breathing room early in the final canto, scoring 8 of their first’ 10 points. However, Brennan went cold again in the remaining part of the semis match, while MJD mounted a comeback and stole the victory as Ask Y U B gave up too many fouls in the homestretch.

Ong also played flat in the fourth canto for Ask Y U B, registering only 2 points, while Marvin Rabauliman had a quiet 6 points. Jethro Cruz was only the third Ask Y U B player to log double figures with his 10 points, which were way behind his 26 markers in their 82-74 playoff win against KB Market last week. Another missing piece in Ask Y U B’s offense was Sid Quan, who was limited to 2 points after firing 20 against KB Market.

Meanwhile, MJD will face in the finals the winner in the other semis pairing between the upset-minded Maplas and the second-seeded Islander Hoops. Maplas stunned the No. 3-ranked Sonics in last week’s quarterfinal round, while Islander ousted the seventh-seeded Triple J.

MJD 80 – Lizama 22, Pelisamen 18, Peredo 12, Estolas 11, De Guzman 6, Gapor 5, Directo 2, Bautista 2.

Ask Y U B 76 – Brennan 18, Ong 18, Cruz 10, Camacho 8, Hammond 6, Rabauliman 6, Standish 6, Quan 2, Chariton 2.

Scoring by quarters: 17-17, 31-37, 55-57, 80-76.