Patriots, Ol’Aces ease past opponents

The San Antonio Patriots’ Sean Rabasto pulls up for a jumper against two Talaabwogh Stars defenders during an earlier game in the MIBF outdoor caging at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

The San Antonio Patriots and Ol’Aces cruised to victories at the resumption of games in the Mariana Islands Basketball Federation’s Inaugural Men’s Outdoor League last Sunday at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

After a long break, San Antonio showed little signs of rust in whipping Chinese Association, 100-64, while the Ol’Aces also eased past the Talaabwogh Stars, 73-59.

Jack Lizama used his height advantage against the much younger and smaller players of Talaabwogh to hit baskets in streaks and finish with a game-high 28 points. He drilled 10 straight points early in the fourth quarter to keep the Ol’Aces’ wide distance.

Dan Barcinas and Jeff Deleon Guerrero were also on target in their game against the Tanapag Stars, as both scored in twin digits. Barcinas had 12 markers, with nine of them coming from the 3-point area, while Deleon Guerrero contributed 11.

Joseph Lifoifoi led Talaabwogh’s losing cause with his 15 points, while Henry Aguon chipped in 12.

In the Patriots-Chinese Association tiff, the former reached the century mark as they had five players breaking into double figures.

The Patriots knocked in shots from all corners and drilled 10 triples against only one from the winless Chinese Association.

Mike Espinosa made four of those baskets from beyond the arc, including three successive triples in the fourth quarter. He registered 18 points to match the output of Jack Aranda, who also made three shots from downtown.

Jaymark De Guzman was the third Patriots player to score 18 points in their lopsided win, while Jester Kintaro and Sean Rabasto posted 14 and 12, respectively.

Mii Tekopua paced the Chinese Association with his game-high 30 points, while Zhu Chen added 26.

Meanwhile, the league, which has been on and off for the last two months due to the lighting problems at the San Antonio court, scheduled two other matches last Sunday. The Junior Ol’Aces got a free win after a no-show from MGNEL Construction, while Saipan Apparel prevailed against Ace Hardware, 73-60.

Saipan Apparel led right from the get-go to hand the league-leading Ace Hardware its second loss in nine games. Saipan Apparel earned its fifth victory in eight games.

The trio of Ben Lisua, Kelvin Fitial, and Justin Andrew teamed up in Ace Hardware’s 13-point winning margin. Lisua fired 24 points, anchoring the team’s offense early in the first half, while Andrew and Fitial finished with 17 and 15 markers, respectively.

In related news, MIBF has scheduled make-up games on Dec. 10 and 11 to complete the regular season matches. After the round-robin elimination games, only the Top 8 teams out of the 11 squad will be able to compete in the playoffs, which will start on Jan. 9.