Top Development, Best Deal/RNV top foes

Best Deal/RNV’s Ronald Rueda, third left, takes off for a shot against Joeten 2’s Ariel Madrid, left, and Yoshi Mafnas, second left, during the first quarter of their game in the JP World caging last Saturday at the Gillette Multipurpose Gymnasium. (Roselyn B. Monroyo)

Best Deal/RNV and Top Development, Inc. won their respective matches in the 2018 JP World Corp. Customer Appreciation Basketball League last Saturday at the Gillette Multipurpose Gymnasium.

In the first game, TDI outclassed Docomo Pacific, 98-85, while Best Deal/RNV also earned a double-digit winning margin over Joeten 2 in the second tiff, 74-58. Three matches were scheduled last Saturday, but Joeten 1 got the outright victory after a no-show from MG&R Contractor.

For the last match of the night, Best Deal/RNV played better in the second half, as more players came in to team up in their 16-point win against Joeten 2.

Actually, both squads started the game with a depleted crew and the match was pretty even after the first half with Joeten 2 taking a 20-15 lead after the opening frame before Best Deal/RNV grabbed the upper hand at the break, 36-35.

Ariel Baul, who missed the first quarter action, came to play in the second period and worked with Ronald Rueda and Ivan Agustin in putting Best Deal/RNV on top after 20 minutes of action.

Baul was not done yet and delivered 10 points in the third quarter, nearly matching the output of the entire Joeten 2 crew, to give Best Deal/RNV more cushion, 58-47. Best Deal/RNV never relinquished the double-digit lead, as Joeten 2 was held to its lowest production in a quarter (11 points) after making only two field goals, while Agustin and Rueda finished what Baul started in the third period to top their foes.

Agustin and Baul logged 20-plus points with the former recording 22 and the latter adding 21, while Rueda was not far behind after contributing 19. J.P. Cruz and John Oracion led Joeten 2 after making 13 points each.

Meanwhile, TDI leaned on its balance scoring to beat Docomo.

The winning squad had four players breaking into double figures with Sean Rabasto firing 28 points, and Nestor Arreza, Raymond Velasco, and Darwin Barbo chipping in 19, 17, and 14 markers, respectively.

Docomo, in contrast, relied heavily on Shane Deleon Guerrero and Tony Diaz with the former exploding for 31 points and the latter registering 28.

First Game
TDI 98—Rabasto 28, Arreza 19, Velasco 17, Barbo 14, Barros 4, Reyes 3, Jo. Pollisco 3, Je. Pollisco 2.
Docomo 85—Deleon Guerrero 31, Diaz 28, Alvarez 7, Sablan 5, Grow 4, McCale 2.
Scoring by quarters: 17-16, 39-31, 65-55, 98-85.

Second Game
Best Deal/RNV 74—Agustin 22, Baul 21, R. Rueda 19, J. Rueda 4, Taraya 2, Villacrusis 2, Jumaquio 2.
Joeten 2 58—Cruz 13, Oracion 13, Mafnas 12, Agulto 9, Montoya 7, Garcia 2, Madrid 2.
Scoring by quarters: 15-20, 36-35, 58-47, 74-58.