Saipan Ice, Island Floral advance in DL caging

Saipan Ice’s Dan Barcinas unloads a long jumper against the Gliders’ J.P. Villanueva, left, and Adrian Palacios during the third quarter of their playoff game in the DL Corp. caging last Sunday at the Gillette Multipurpose Gymnasium. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Island Floral knocked off Blue Haus in the curtain-raiser, 101-78, to march into the quarterfinals, while Saipan Ice followed suit after dispatching the Gliders in the second game, 87-72.

Saipan Ice coasted to a 15-point victory despite trailing early in the match, 4-16. The Gliders held Saipan Ice to two field goals in the first eight minutes of the opening quarter, but lost the double-digit lead, as the former collapsed in the second canto. The Gliders, which still led by 9 after the first frame, 20-11, was scoreless in the first six minutes of the second quarter, as Saipan Ice managed to grab the upper hand by the end of the first half, 33-27.

Dan Barcinas led Saipan Ice’s recovery, drilling 10 points in the second period. Barcinas had to step up on offense and team up with Derrick Rangamar, as Saipan Ice played without Jack Lizama, who is nursing a swollen right hand due to a bee sting.

The Gliders was also without key players Jun Estolas and big men Bart Demapan, Kae Bernardo, and Jimmy Tudela. Their presence was clearly needed, as the remaining Gliders players found themselves down by 17, 37-53, midway in the third canto with Barcinas and Rangamar continuing to do damage on offense.

Barcinas finished with a game-high 38 points, while Rangamar contributed 18. Saipan Ice led by as much as 20 early in the fourth and the Gliders failed to cut the lead to single digit, as the opposing teams just traded baskets in the majority of the final canto.

J.P. Villanueva paced the Gliders with his 19 points, while Mike Saturno and Melvin Cadiang tallied 17 and 16, respectively.

In the first game, Island Floral was all business right in the first quarter to take control of the match and never lost it.

Djay Ong and Jerome Norita combined for 17 points in the first quarter, which ended with Island Floral holding a 29-12 advantage. The lead ballooned to 22 at halftime, 48-26, with Ong adding 6 more points and his other teammates also finding their targets.

In the second half, Blue Haus never made headway to slice the deficit to a decent number, while Island Floral went for the kill, scoring 31 points in the fourth, its most production in a quarter.

Ong top-scored for Island Floral with his 24 points, while Norita logged 19. Blue Haus’ Jesse Santos led all scorers with his 28 points.

Up next for Island Floral is TBK Mechanics and they will collide in the first game tomorrow at 6:30pm. In the second match at 8pm, Saipan Ice will take on the Destroyers. Winners of the Wednesday games will join San Antonio and Hite Jinro in the semifinals.

First Game
Island Floral 101 – Ong 24, Norita 19, Aguon 10, Tabora 9, Bisana 8, Capalad 8, Lizama 8, Kaipat 7, Diaz 6.

Blue Haus 78 – Santos 28, Talania 16, E. Camacho 14, Hernandez 9, Moises 5, B. Camacho 2.

Scoring by quarters: 29-12, 48-26, 79-52, 101-78.

Second Game
Saipan Ice 87 – Barcinas 38, Rangamar 18, N. Saralu 9, Kaipat 9, Pharmin 8, R. Saralu 3.

Gliders 72 – J. Villanueva 19, Saturno 17, Cadiang 16, Palacios 11, Chen 4, Cabrera 2.

Scoring by quarters: 11-20, 33-27, 58-43. 87-72.