Team Kio escapes RNV to remain undefeated

From left, Marie King Reyes (sister of the late Kioni Sablan’s mother), Kimberlyn King (sister of Kioni), Annie King (mother of Kioni), and Bing (brother of Kioni) before Team Kio’s game against RNV in the Island-wide Men’s BudLight Basketball League last Wednesday at the Tinian Multi-Purpose Gymnasium. (Contributed Photo)

Team Kio barely kept its unblemished record after escaping with a 69-67 win over a fighting RNV team in the Island-wide Men’s BudLight Basketball League last Wednesday at the Tinian Multi-Purpose Gymnasium.

Playing in the opener, Kio had its full team back after playing minus key starters its last game against Rampage following the passing of Kioni Sablan.

The Sablan brothers—Dustin, Paka, and Bing and their half-brother Kim King—played lackadaisically the entire game, but Team Kio still led RNV the entire game. It was 22-13 after the first quarter thanks to the 6 points of Robert Reyes.

Kio added 2 points to their advantage at the half, 38-27, before RNV slowly chipped into the league-leader’s advantage, 54-48, heading into the fourth and final quarter.

That’s when the match tightened up with RNV’s Rommel Udaundo going berserk to help his team close the gap. In the final moments of the exciting match, Kio was ahead by just a matchstick, 68-67, when King was fouled with 3 seconds left in the game. He made his first free throw but missed the second. Fortunately, Team Kio managed to come up with important rebound as time expired.

Reyes top-scored for the now 11-0 Team Kio with 22 points, while King was the only double-digit scorer for the squad with 10 markers. Udaundo was the game’s high-point man with 24 points, but it came in a loss—RNV’s seventh in 11 games.

Before the start of the game, RNV players had a brief prayer in respect to the late Kioni Sablan.

Team Kio’s Kim King makes the first of two free throws with 3 seconds left in their game against RNV in the Island-wide Men’s BudLight Basketball League last Wednesday at the Tinian Multi-Purpose Gymnasium. (Contributed Photo)

In the nightcap, Devil Dog Warriors cruised to a 78-48 win over a shorthanded Team CNMI, which was missing three suspended players stemming from an incident during their game against Ko’Bees last week.

After being buried by a torrent of points in the first 30 minutes of the match, it would go from bad to worse for Team CNMI in the fourth quarter as Bambino Monkeya got injured with still 8:15 left in the game and they were forced to finish the match with only four players.

Jake Montgomery led Devil Dog Warriors with 21 markers with Zjonti Kubinski chipping in 14 for good measure. The win was the ninth in 11 outings for the team. Team CNMI, which dropped to 3-8, was paced by the 20 points of Esteban Borja, while Joe Santos added 11 points.

First Game
Team Kio 69 – Reyes 22, King 10, D. Sablan 8, P. Sablan 6, Sanchez 6, Cepeda 6, San Nicolas 4, Cabrera 4, B. Sablan 2.

RNV 67 – Udaundo 24, Maquiling 13, Villacrusis 7, Borca 6, Remegio 6, Bungabong 4, Rizardo 3, Belmonte 2.

Scoring by quarters: 22-13, 38-27, 54-48, 69-67.

Second Game
Devil Dog Warriors 78 – Montgomery 21, Kubinski 14, Kada 9, Wayland 8, Ogaldez 7, James 7, Sakalan 6, Navarro 2, Beal 2.

Team CNMI 48 – Borja 20, Santos 15, Lizama 11, Monkeya 2.

Scoring by quarters: 23-7, 40-26, 60-36, 78-48.