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PSS’ Basa clinches three awards
Preston Basa collected three individual awards in the Inter Commercial Business Basketball League after Tuesday night’s finals between Fiesta Resort & Spa-Saipan and Pacific Islands Club Saipan at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.
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- Pacific Islands Club-Saipan players show the pennant champion and finals runner-up trophies they received during the awards ceremony for the Inter-commercial caging last Tuesday night at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium. (Jon Perez)
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- Regular season most valuable player Preston Basa of the Public School System poses with his trophy during the awards ceremony for the Inter-commercial caging last Tuesday night at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium. (Jon Perez)
Basa was the scoring champion, beating Patrick Rotap of Saipan Ice by a narrow margin. The Public School System chief gunner tallied 230 points in nine games in the elimination round, giving him a 25.5 points per game average or 0.4 ahead of Rotap’s 25.1 (226). Docomo Pacific’s Tony Diaz came in third with 24.4 or 220 points total.
Basa was also the league’s 3-point king after draining 51 3-pointers or a 5.66 average. Rotap (29) and PIC’s Jack Aranda(18) finished second and third with 3.2 and 2.0, respectively.
The two awards were enough for Basa to claim the regular season most valuable player honors. Other awardees were Fiesta’s Elmer Esdrelon, IT&E’s Jason Palacios, and Saipan Ice teammates Ben Olopai and John Santy.
Esdrelon was the league’s top passer after issuing close to five assists per game with his 4.8 average. He had nine assists in Fiesta’s 75-71 title win over PIC to go along with his 12 points, 11 rebounds, and two steals. Jerry Diaz of PSS and IT&E’s Nate Mateo averaged 4.1 and 3.3 per game to end up second and third behind Esdrelon.
Palacios topped the steals department with an average of 3.8 per game, while Saipan Ice’s Joel Fernandez and Esdrelon logged in 3.6 and 3.0, respectively.
Olopai and Santy figured prominently in the blocks and rebounds departments with the former becoming the King of Swat with a 2.6 average, followed by the latter’s 2.2. Rick Sanchez of Docomo was third in blocks (0.8). Santy was the league’s No. 1 rebounder with his 12.5 a game, followed by Joeten Enterprises’ Alex Lauron (10.6) and Olopai (10.5).
Fiesta’s Matt Duenas was named the finals MVP after finishing with 18 points, 13 in the first half where his team enjoyed a 40-32 lead at the break. He also had five rebounds, three assists, five steals, and one block. Fiesta, behind Lerio Pagarao’s game-long brilliance, dealt PIC its first loss in the league.
PIC, aside from its runner-up finish, won the pennant, while Joeten Enterprises, which dropped a 91-71 contest against Fiesta in their knockout semis encounter, placed third.
