San Antonio clinches outright semis seat

San Antonio bagged the automatic semis berth in the DL Corp Invitational Basketball League Season 4, following an impressive 97-85 win over Gliders last Sunday night at the Gillette Multipurpose Gymnasium.

San Antonio finished the round-robin elimination with a 7-1 record and is currently on top of the team standings, ahead of fellow semifinalist Hite Jinro (6-1). The Top 2 teams in the nine-squad field are given the outright semis tickets, while the No. 3 and 4 finishers are awarded quarterfinal berths. The No. 5 to 8 placers will battle for the two playoff berths and challenge the No. 3 and 4 finishers for the last two semis seats, while the cellar dweller will be eliminated.

San Antonio’s Jaymark De Guzman leaps to challenge the shot of Gliders’ J.P. Villanueva, while Prince Factor stays in the play for help defense during the second quarter of their game in the DL Corp. caging last Sunday at the Gillette Multipurpose Gymnasium. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Gliders is in danger of going through the first round of the playoffs, as it fell to a 4-3 slate and absorbed back-to-back losses over the weekend. Gliders first bowed to TBK Mechanics last Friday, 84-88, and failed to recover quickly after an early collapse in the second quarter.

The second canto began with San Antonio on top by only 2 points, 26-24, and Gliders was still in the game in the first half of that period behind by only six, 36-42. However, Gliders was stuck to 36 markers for about three minutes, while San Antonio scored 11 points to widen the gap, 53-36. A floater from Adrian Palacios ended Gliders’ silence, but still San Antonio wrapped up the first half with a promising 57-42 advantage.

San Antonio went on to protect its double-digit spread, as it distributed the ball well in the second half and consistently hit its outside shots, while escaping with several fastbreak layups. Four of San Antonio’s starters tallied twin digits with Mike Espinosa drilling 17 points, Kobe Mendoza adding 15, and Jaymark De Guzman and Prince Factor contributing 13 and 11, respectively. Bryle Alegre came off the bench and top-scored for San Antonio with his 19 markers.

Jimmy Tudela led Gliders with his 22 points, but majority of them came in the first quarter where he dominated the paint to help his team keep up with San Antonio. Tudela scored Gliders’ last 11 points in the first quarter and had two and-1 plays before getting limited touches in the last three periods and settling for drives instead of going for post-up plays.

Jun Estolas added 21 and had only Adrian Palacios backing him up in the second half where Gliders tried to slice the lead down to single digits and failed. The least that Gliders could do was moved within 10, 83-93, off Estolas fastbreak layup, but the clock was down to less than a minute and San Antonio melted it to keep its safe distance.

Meanwhile, the Destroyers kept its quarterfinals bid alive after beating TBK Mechanics in the second game, 98-89.

The Destroyers held TBK to 14 points in the second canto, the latter’s lowest output, to turn a precarious 23-22 lead to a 48-36 advantage at the half. Elmer Esdrelon anchored the Destroyers’ 25-14 scoring binge, dropping 10 points, while Edwin Santos chipped in 6. Santos drilled the Destroyers’ first three baskets in the second period and was also on a zone in the third, registering a string of 10 points and 14 in that quarter alone to pad the Destroyers’ lead, 80-63, entering the fourth canto.

In the final period, the Destroyers countered every basket TBK converted to preserve the lead and gain its third win in seven games.

First Game

Destroyers 98 – Esdrelon 28, Santos 27, Duenas 13, Guiab 11, Tengco 5, Serrano 4, Fernandez 2.

TBK Mechanics 89 – Catalla 23, Fitial 21, I. Devero 18, N. Mateo 13, Velasco 5, Pangelinan 4.

Scoring by quarters: 23-22, 48-36, 80-63, 98-89.

Second Game

San Antonio 97 – Alegre 19, Espinosa 17, Mendoza 15, De Guzman 13, Factor 11, Arciaga 9, Fidelino 6, Aranda 6, Javier 2.

Gliders 85 – Tudela 22, Estolas 21, Palacios 15, Cadiang 8, Villanueva 8, Bernardo 6, Cabrera 4.

Scoring by quarters: 26-24, 57-42, 76-61, 97-85.