PSS outlasts Joeten in overtime

Public School System’s Preston Basa scoops a layup against four Joeten players during the third quarter of their game in the JP World caging last Wednesday night at the Gillette Multipurpose Gymnasium. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

PSS grabbed the victory despite its free throw woes, while Joeten collapsed after making poor shot selections both in regular and in the extension period.

PSS went 8-for-20 from the foul line in the last four minutes of the fourth quarter and in the extra five minutes of the match. It drained only five out of the 12 charities given to the team in the last four minutes of the match and could have won the game right in regulation as Joeten was just protecting a seven-point lead when PSS missed free throws one after another. Two of those five free shots brought the match into overtime with Maverick Itibus, who was 1-for-4 in his first two trips at the foul line, this time went 2-for-2.

After Itibus tied the match, 73-all, Joeten was left with 44 seconds to hit the go-ahead basket and took two jumpers and two hurried point-blanked shots, missing all. Ferdie Tobias unloaded a jumper from the left baseline, but overshot his mark, while Kevin De Leon also muffed a 12-footer from the right key. Juanito Sambile then tried a putback after Deleon’s miss instead of bringing the ball down first with plenty of time left and only he and Alex Lauron contesting the rebound. Sambile’s follow-up was too strong and Lauron also went for the putback, but the ball rattled off the rim. Finally, PSS collared the rebound, but ran out of time to pull up for a shot and was forced to play in overtime as Itibus had just crossed midcourt when the buzzer sounded.

In the extra period, PSS’ poor free throw shooting continued, while Lauron drilled 5-for-6 from the stripe and Syl Teregeyo added a bucket to give Joeten an 80-76 advantage, 1:34 left in the match. A split from Preston Basa moved PSS within three, 77-80, while back-to-back baskets from Itibus in less than a minute put the team on top, 81-80. Itibus made two straight baskets after Lauron took two ill-advised jumpers on the other end.

Down, but definitely not out, Joeten was again left with a lot of time to pull up for the go-ahead basket, as it kept the ball in the last 39.2 second after the leather hit Mel Manibusan’s foot in a play in the baseline. Manibusan then made up for the inadvertent error when he blocked a driving Tobias. However, PSS failed to complete the big defensive stop, as Itibus was called for the offensive foul, providing an illegal screen on Bob Coldeen Jr. who was going for a fastbreak play.

Joeten regained possession with still 32.5 seconds left on the clock and again instead of running down the clock a bit and going for a high-percentage shot, Lauron surprised his teammates with a triple and missed. He then tried to made up for his poor shot selection by battling the loose ball against Manibusan, however Lauron was called for a foul.

Manibusan nailed the first charity to give PSS more cushion, 82-80, but missed the second one and Joeten reclaimed possession as Itibus stepped on the line after getting the offensive board. Joeten had no time out left and needed a quick inbound with 13.5 seconds remaining on the clock. De Leon almost lost the inbound pass, but recovered in time to get the leather to Tobias, who was harassed by two PSS defenders. With the clock running and the PSS defense on him, Tobias pulled up for a triple and missed, while Basa got the rebound and was fouled in the last .5 of a second. Basa hit the first charity for the insurance and intentionally muffed the second one, securing PSS’ first victory after dropping its opener against Micronesian Brokers, Inc./Anchor.

MBI/Anchor also played last Wednesday and took the early lead in the nine-team field as it improved to a 2-0 record, following an 88-66 rout of the debuting Saipan Ice & Water.

Four MBI/Anchor players—Jeff Garcia, Ivan Devero, Pete Lizama, and Angelo Fernando—scored 14 points each to notch the easy win. Saipan Ice leaned only on Jerome Norita and Treat Kaipat, who finished with 28 and 20 markers, respectively.

With Kaipat and Norita working together, Saipan Ice trailed by only 10 at the break, 38-48, however the duo clearly needed help from their teammates in the second half where MBI/Anchor’s balance scoring keyed the team’s breakaway. MBI/Anchor went on a 22-12 scoring spurt in the third period to pad the lead to 20 and kept the comfortable margin in the fourth after getting contributions from multiple players.

First Game
MBI/Anchor 88 – Garcia 14, Lizama 14, Fernando 14, Devero 14, Zapanta 10, Capalad 8.

Saipan Ice 66 – Norita 28, Kaipat 20, Villanueva 8, Santy 5, Casimong 2, Cayading 2, Olopai 1.

Scoring by quarters: 25-18, 48-38, 70-50, 88-66.

Second Game
PSS 83 – Basa 26, Itibus 15, Manibusan 11, Cabrera 8, Villacrusis 7, Diaz 5, Coldeen 3, Mendez 3, Santos 2.

Joeten 80 – Lauron 21, Teregeyo 18, De Leon 17, Kwon 15, Tobias 4, Sambile 3.

Scoring by quarters: 11-23, 36-41, 59-54, 73-73, 83-80 (OT).