Palau, Dolphins rout MBT foes

Visiting team Palau and the Marianas Dolphins pulled off separate lopsided wins over their respective opponents in the 2015 Micronesian Basketball Tournament U15 yesterday at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

Palau’s Wallace Worswick challenges the defense of a Marianas Alu’u player in their game in yesterday’s 2015 Micronesian Basketball Tournament U15 yesterday at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium. (Jon Perez)

Palau trounced host team Marianas Alu’u, 68-36, for its second straight win after suffering a 61-56 setback at the hands of the Dolphins on opening day. The Dolphins, meanwhile, dealt Marianas Tataga a 103-47 thrashing in the first game.

M.J. Baysa and Wallace Worswick combined for 14 of Palau’s 20 second-quarter points when they slowly put some distance over the Alu’u.

Palau, after that second-quarter scoring barrage, did not slow down after that and used a stifling full-court trapping defense to convert Alu’u’s errors into points.

Palau’s lead continued to balloon further until the final buzzer.

The Alu’u had a mini run with barely four minutes gone in the fourth period as it trimmed Palau’s 30-point lead to 22, 53-31.

That run was short-lived though as Palau countered with a run of their own to finally silence their opponents.

Omar Ganac scattered 18 points to lead Palau’s scoring, while Baysa and Worswick provided scoring support with 12 markers each.

Bud Jason Norita paced the Alu’u with 11 points while Khalid Islam added 9 more. Sean Apasan, Rikko Lizama, Kent Ogasawara, Adonis Favor, and Khristian Itaas combined for 16 markers.

Palau will face undefeated Guam at 6pm today, while winless teams Tataga and Alu’u clash in the 4pm opener.

In the first game, Christian Arceo finished with 24 points to lead four other Dolphins who reached double digits in their easy win over the Tataga.

The Dolphins pulled away early in the match then limited the Tataga to 4 points in the first quarter in that lopsided win.

Jude Tengco came up with 15 points, Jun Alipio and Dalton Dancoe ended up with 14 markers each, while Angelo Factor scored 10.

J.P. Cruz was the lone Tataga to break double digits with 16, while Joseph Kisa added 8 markers. Paulo Caddag and Matthew Ong had 6 apiece.

First Game
Marianas Dolphins 103 – Arceo 24, Tengco 15, Alipio 14, Dancoe 14, Factor 10, Mendoza 8, Cobacha 6, Dela Cruz 4, Mamaril 4, Ogumoro 4.

Marianas Tataga 47 – Cruz 16, Kisa 8, Caddag 6, Ong 6, Richardson 5, Quiroz 4, Valencia 2.

Scoring by quarters: 30-4, 47-18, 70-31, 103-47.

Second Game
Palau 68 – Ganac 18, Baysa 12, Worswick 12, De Lina 8, Goodall 4, Tarkong 4, Canate 3, Kingzlo 3, Reklai 2, Stark 2.

Marianas Alu’u 36 – Norita 11, Islam 9, Apasan 4, Lizama 4, Ogasawara 4, Favor 2, Itaas 2.

Scoring by quarters: 14-6, 34-16, 51-29, 68-36.