Oh My J spoils Pasion De Amor’s semis bid

Oh My J denied Pasion De Amor an outright entry to the semifinals of the 2015 Blue Haus/IT&E Inter-Color Basketball League after prevailing in their make-up game, 66-55, last Monday at the Navy Hill Court.

Pasion De Amor’s Chris Arreza is double-teamed by Oh My J’s Nelson Manangan, left, and Nate Mateo during the first half of their make-up game in the Blue Haus-IT&E caging last Monday at the Navy Hill Court. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Going into the last elimination round match, Pasion De Amor was gunning for a win that would have tied them with Makalaro Lang (6-2) for the No. 1 spot. Had Pasion De Amor won, it would have prevailed in the tiebreak because it defeated Makalaro Lang, 71-65, last Sept. 23 and the former would have gotten the automatic semis ticket given to the top finisher in the nine-team field.

However, with the loss, Pasion De Amor gave up the outright semis seat to Makalaro Lang and fell in a five-way logjam for the second to sixth spot with Wag Kang Pabebe, Hard Kulangot, Red Rice, and Oh My J with their identical 5-3 records.

To resolve the tie, league officials first went to the team’s win-loss records against each other and Wag Kang Pabebe emerged as the winner and owner of the No. 2 spot with its 3-1 slate. Hard Kulangot and Red Rice had similar 2-2 marks, while Oh My J and Pasion De Amor held 1-1 cards. Hard Kulangot went on to win the tie for the No. 3 seeding with the virtue of its 45-44 victory over Red Rice, while Oh My J settled for the No. 5 spot after its 11-point triumph over Pasion De Amor.

Nate Mateo, Junar Guiab, and Nelson Manangan scored in double figures in Oh My J’s fifth victory with the former nailing a team-high 17 points. Guiab had 11, while Manangan added 11.

Chris Arreza had 19 markers to lead Pasion De Amor, which missed the services of one of its key players—Bart Demapan—in the crucial game. Rey Pestillos and Elmer Esdrelon registered 14 points each in the sorry loss.

Meanwhile, the playoff round in the inaugural caging will start this weekend with the second-ranked Wag Kang Pabebe battling Purple Rain this Friday. Purple Rain caught the last bus to the playoffs after finishing the elimination round with a 3-5 record and eliminating Kidlat (2-6). Eh Di Wow (0-8) was the other ousted team.

For the Saturday and Sunday pairings, it will be Hard Kulangot against Pasion De Amor and Red Rice versus Oh My J, respectively. The playoff round has a single-elimination format with the winners in this weekend’s matches joining Makalaro Lang in the semifinals next week. In the Final Four, the pairings will be determined via draw, while the championship showdown is a winner-take-all affair.

Oh My J 66 – Mateo 17, Guiab 11, Manangan 11, Enriquez 9, Sablan 8, Asuhan 5, Sanciangco 4.

Pasion De Amor 55 – C. Arreza 19, Pestillos 14, Esdrelon 14, N. Arreza 6, Conti 2.

Scoring by halves: 35-32, 66-55.