Saipan Fresh, San Antonio advance

San Antonio defenders challenge the shot of CES Electronics’ Gerald Laguimdan during their regular season game in the DL caging at the San Antonio court. CES is in the semis, while San Antonio will play Mobil today for the fourth and last semis ticket. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Saipan Fresh Market and San Antonio moved into the next round of the DL Sports Association Invitational Basketball League Season 5 after romping past their playoff foes last Monday at the San Antonio court.

Saipan Fresh downed Island’s Best Choice in the curtain-raiser, 93-75, while San Antonio topped GMI Market in the second match, 79-64.

A 31-point explosion in the fourth quarter gave Saipan Fresh the 18-point winning margin against Island’s Best, which engaged the latter in a neck-and-neck game in the first three quarters before fading away in the fourth.

The final canto begin with Island’s Best still ahead by 3, 65-62, but it lost the lead and the game when it scored only 10 points in the payoff period.

Kelvin Fitial outgunned the entire Island’s Best team in the fourth quarter, dropping 11 of his game-high 34 points in the homestretch and capping his squad’s strong finish with a triple. Fitial teamed up with fellow big man Alex Lauron and guard Oliver Itibus in delivering the big blows for Saipan Fresh in the final frame. Lauron and Itibus had 8 points each in the final 10 minutes of play.

With the win, Saipan Fresh arranged a meeting with Kauila for the third semis berth, while San Antonio will duel Mobil for the fourth semis seat. These two matches will be played tonight with the winners joining Ghasias Brothers and CES Electronics to the Final Four.

Ghasias and CES booked the two outright semis tickets after taking the Top 2 spots in the round-robin regular season. Ghasias finished the elimination with a 7-1 record, while CES had a 6-2 mark, beating Mobil in the tiebreak for the second spot. Mobil and Kauila settled for the third and fourth spots and the first round byes that went with their rankings. Saipan Fresh, San Antonio, GMI Market, and Island’s Best had similar 3-5 marks to place at No. 5 to 8, while Kalayaan (1-7) was eliminated.

San Antonio kept its finals hopes alive in the nine-team league after grabbing the lead from GMI Market in the second quarter en route to its 15-point win.

San Antonio was behind by a point after the first canto, 22-23, when Jack Aranda and Leo Galarse combined for 12 of their squad’s 20 markers to take the upper hand at the break, 42-31. San Antonio never looked back, as other players stepped up in the second half to preserve their double-digit advantage.

First Game
Saipan Fresh 93— Fitial 34, O. Itibus 19, Lauron 16, Pineda 13, Babauta 7, Pestillos 2.

Island’s Best 75— Fernando 26, Duenas 14, Devero 13, R. Usi 6, Bayking 3, M. Usi 2.

Scoring by quarters: 21-23, 39-40, 62-65, 93-75.

Second Game
San Antonio 79— Aranda 17, De Guzman 15, Dela Rosa 8, Espinosa 8, Galarse 8, Factor 6, Arciaga 6, Barbo 4, Rabasto 3, Leyco 2.

GMI Market 64 — Cruz 17, Nakashima 10, Ito 8, Tekopua 8, Ong 7, Alipio 7, Santos 5, Sablan 5.

Scoring by quarters: 22-23, 42-31, 62-48, 79-64.