Sweet sweep for Proa

 After an easy win in their seventh game, Namfrel/Proa coach Rufino Aguon said their eighth and last one will be tough.

He was right, as Proa needed to withstand Cabalen/Noni’ second-half rally to eke out an 82-79 victory in the UFO Inter-Organization Basketball Friendship League 2011 Bud Cup on Thursday night at the TSL Sports Complex.

The triumph gave Proa a sweep of the regular season, the pennant, and an outright semis slot in the nine-team field. Cabalen failed to grab the automatic semis ticket as it finished the elimination round with a 6-2 record for third place, losing the tiebreaker for second with UPAA/Docomo Hoopaholics. Cabalen, UPAA, Bayani, MAFEA, VisMinda, and Cavite will also play in the first round of the playoffs with the Top 3 teams joining Proa in the semifinals.

Proa boosted its chances for the semis berth after controlling the first half of the last game in the regular season. Aguon’s wards put out their trademark back court press, forcing Noni out of its offensive rhythm.

Proa took a 25-16 advantage after the first period and led by as much as 16 in the second canto, 38-22. Josh Sablan came off the bench and hit four treys to pad Proa’s lead before Cabalen made a brief rally to move within 10 at the break, 41-51.

Cabalen continued its uphill climb in the second half and even tied the count, 54-all. Cabalen also had several chances of stealing the upper hand in the third, but just couldn’t drill the needed baskets and at the end of that canto, Proa still had the final say with Sablan firing his fifth triple of the night for a 67-63 cushion.

With Cabalen now back into the game, the momentum shifted into its side in the fourth and a triple from Lerio Pagarao from the top key finally gave the team its first taste of the lead, 73-71, 5:39 to go in the match.

However, Proa quickly regained the driver’s seat on Gino Libuw’s own triple, 74-73, and Iguel also connected on a triple to cap a 9-3 run and give his team more breathing room, 80-73, 4:30 remaining on the clock.

Then Cabalen answered with its own short tally, scoring six straight points to move within one, 79-80. Pagarao had a chance to grab the lead anew when he lost his defender, but he babied his drive and worse he was called for an offensive foul.

Cabalen had another blackeye when Banjo Basila was called for an unsportsmanlike foul on Pete Lizama, who cut to the middle but pushed off by the Basila. Lizama calmly sank the pair of charities, giving Proa an 82-79 lead, 1:10 to go in the match.

Teams traded misses in the ensuing plays and Cabalen lost its chances to send the game in overtime when Bon Tamayo missed on his two attempts from downtown. Tamayo was held to only six points and one triple. In their penultimate game, Tamayo scored 25 points and hit six triples.

Cabalen put up a gallant stand against the unbeaten Proa when the latter opted not to use its backcourt press in the second half. With Proa’s defense loosening up, Cabalen managed to get baskets on its half court sets and nailed a couple of outside shots.

Seeing his team in trouble, Aguon, who was at the sidelines in the first three quarters letting assistant coach Joe Villacrusis give instructions to Proa players, decided to call the shots in the final canto and save the win.

Proa preserved the victory with its impressive 3-point shooting, as it exploded for 14 triples against Cabalen’s only five. Besides losing in the 3-point shootout, Cabalen also muffed several charities, hurting its chances of ending Proa’s winning run.

Iguel top-scored for Proa with 25 points, 18 of them came from downtown, while Sablan finished with 15. Pagarao led Cabalen with 21 markers.

Namfrel/Proa 82 – Iguel 25, Sablan 15, Lizama 13, Johnson 11, Chariton 4, Mendiola 3, Libuw 3, Babauta 2.

Cabalen/Noni 79 – Pagarao 21, Abuel 16, Bernardo 14, Basila 13, Tamayo 6, Demapan 4, Yabut 2.

Scoring by quarters: 25-16, 51-41, 67-63, 82-79.