San Antonio nips Ghasias in finale

Mike Espinosa, right, hit the dagger in San Antonio Patriots’ 79-78 title win over Ghasias Brothers in the DL caging last Sunday at the San Antonio court. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Mike Espinosa made a putback in the closing seconds of the finals to lift the San Antonio Patriots to a 79-78 win over Ghasias Brothers in the DL Sports Association Invitational Basketball League Season 5 last Sunday at the San Antonio court.

Espinosa hit the dagger off his own miss, which came after Jack Aranda also faltered on his drive. Aranda then redeemed himself on the defensive end, deflecting Ghasias’ inbound pass to foil their foes’ bid to pull off a miracle.

San Antonio had to lean on Espinosa’s heroics after wasting an early lead. The eventual champion built a 28-12 advantage at the end of the first quarter behind the hot start of Aranda, who scored the team’s first 8 points, including back-to-back triples. He added another shot from downtown to finish the opening canto with 11 markers as he nearly outgunned the entire Ghasias crew. Jaymark De Guzman added 7 in the opening frame to hand San Antonio a 16-point lead.

However, Ghasias Brothers surged back in the second canto and even wiped out the deficit, taking a 36-34 halftime lead after exploding for 24 points and limiting San Antonio to single-digit scoring. Douglas Schmidt anchored Ghasias’ recovery, logging 11 of his game-high 44 points in that period, while Basa contributed 6.

After catching up in the second quarter, Ghasias engaged San Antonio in a close fight in the final half with the former ahead by only a deuce at the end of the third, 57-55. The seesaw battle continued in the fourth with Schmidt and Aranda trading baskets. However, in the end it was Espinosa who stole the show, as he used his long arms to collar the rebound twice and connect on his second attempt.

Espinosa finished the title match with 9 points, 5 of them came in the fourth quarter, while Aranda paced San Antonio with his 24 and was named Finals MVP.

Schmidt settled for a spot in the Mythical Five, joining De Guzman, Ken Viray, Josh Andrew, and Erick Dela Rosa. Syl Teregeyo, whose team CES Electroncs finished third after routing Kauila Enterprises in the consolation match, 115-74, claimed the regular season MVP trophy.

Meanwhile, DL caging organizers would like to thank all the donors of the individual and team trophies and the participating squads.

San Antonio 79 — Aranda 24, Galarse 12, De Guzman 11, Espinosa 9, Dela Rosa 9, Factor 6, Rabasto 3, Arciaga 3, Barbo 2.

Ghasias Brothers 78 — Schmidt 44, Basa 12, Barcinas, 12, Rabauliman 6, B. Pelisamen 2, Lisua 2.

Scoring by quarters: 28-12, 34-36, 57-55, 79-78.