Sonics nose out Ol’Aces in UFO caging

The Sonics pulled off a 58-56 win over the Ol’Aces in the U20 division game at the resumption of the 2015 United Filipino Organization Basketball League last Wednesday night at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

The Sonics’ Mii Tekopua muscles his way against the Ol’Aces’ Jesse Santos, right, while Jason Lampkin came in late for help defense during the first quarter of their U20 game in the UFO caging last Wednesday night at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Jaymark De Guzman hit the winning basket, as he drove to the right baseline in the last 3.2 seconds of the match and made the shot against Ol’Aces guard Andrew Palino. The buzzer-beating basket was set up after Gerald Flores made the inbound play and issued a pass to De Guzman, who was given a pick by big man Mii Tekopua and slipped past his defender before being challenged by Palino.

De Guzman had to save the Sonics as Jesse Santos knotted the count off his layup after the Ol’Aces sued for time in the last nine seconds of the match. De Guzman finished with only 5 points, but all of them came in the second half where the Sonics withstood the Ol’Aces repeated rallies.

The Ol’Aces played catch up as they fell behind by as many as 13 points early in the second quarter, 27-14. The game was still tied at 12-all, when the Sonics launched a 15-2 run off Jack Aranda’s two triples and 8 points, Sean Rabasto’s two baskets, and an and-1 play from Flores.

Aranda got his offensive game going, as he was not tasked to call the plays for the Sonics in the second quarter with Rabasto coming in and quarterbacking for the team after missing the entire first period.

In the second period, the Ol’Aces scored the first basket off Allen Yu’s baseline drive, however they went cold in the next four minutes and change before Karlo De Leon canned a short jumper at the 5:17 mark of that canto.

The Ol’Aces continued to rally and finish the half with back-to-back triples from Jesse and Jon Santos to slice the deficit to single digit at the break, 22-29. The Ol’Aces moved closer after the third period, 37-42, and put up a good fight in the fourth behind the hot shooting of Jesse Santos, but fell short in the end as De Guzman made the dagger.

The victory was the Sonics’ second in as many games after they won their debut over Gilas/MDX, 69-59. The Ol’Aces played only their first game this season.

Meanwhile, in the Masters division, Armatech won its opening game against Graphics/Star 6, 79-63.

Armatech secured the easy win after outgunning Graphics/Star 6 in the third period, 22-6. Before the third-quarter turnaround, Armatech was behind by a deuce, 34-36. Five Armatech players converted at least two baskets apiece in the third to turn a two-point deficit to a 14-point advantage, 56-42.

Graphics/Star 6 never made any headway in the fourth period, as Armatech even doubled-up the former’s output in the final canto, 23-11, en route to the 26-point winning margin.

First Game
Armatech 79 – Abuy 18, Montano 14, Moreno 12, Tobias 11, Berline 7, Malasarte 6, Bartolo 4, Poquiz 2.

Graphics/Star 6 53 – Dela Cruz 9, Pablo 8, S. Ebuen 8, Tibayan 8, Gonzales 6, Abadilla 6, O. Ebuen 2, Garcia 2, Bautista 2.

Scoring by quarters: 14-21, 34-36, 56-42, 79-53.

Second Game
Sonics 58 – Aranda 16, Rabasto 12, Flores 9, Oagasawara 8, De Guzman 5, Tekopua 2, Ito 2.

Ol’Aces 56 – Je. Santos 16, Jo. Santos 14, Muna 7, Yu 6, Palino 4, Nakashima 3, De Leon 2, Lampkin 2, Dee 2.

Scoring by quarters: 10-10, 29-22, 42-37, 58-56.