The Golden Pine Hotel cagers nipped GWE, 116-114, last August 7, 2016, at the YMCA Gym to grab a share in the lead of Bracket Y at the end of the first round of the eliminations. Clydon Elefante sank two freebies in the dying seconds that will serve as the winning margin for Golden Pine.
The win brought confidence on the team’s expectations to top the bracket as they look forward to go up against their rival ROC on August 19 at 5:30 in the afternoon also at the YMCA gym. Both squads, tied at the top post with a 3-1 win/loss card, battle it out for the top position at the start of the second round of the eliminations. Golden Pine is expected to win the redemption match having suffered their only loss in the tournament against ROC.
Stepping up to the leader board was no easy task for the Golden Pine cagers against GWE. They managed to finish the first canto of play with only a three point lead, 33-30. GWE came back with a fury on the second canto, pushing their defensive and offensive strategies to control the boards and got the upper hand by posting a 34-22 blast. They led, 64-55, at the end of the second canto buzzer.
The Pine cagers, however, patiently inched their way back. They chip off GWE’s lead by countering with a 32-26 run to cut off GWE’s lead to only three points at the end of the third canto of play, 87-90. With both squads psyching each other’s strategies, the fourth quarter action resulted in a slow paced action. The quarter posted eight deadlocks to the dying seconds of the game, the last one at 114-all. A forced foul by GWE sent Elefante to the line for two shots. Elefante calmly sank both shots to win the game.
The results of the other games in last week’s match-ups were: UPCB-85, Suntrust 83; Joyrich Construction 97-Apearl 89; Dream Cather 95- Knights 82; Town’s Pizza 85-PMB 77; ROC 116-Basketball Stars 97; Wesleyan 74, YMCA Basketball Club 59; Mommy La Resto 75, Team YMCA 60; Kuya Ponz 75, Inatech 69; Falcons 112, KLFC 100; Supreme 80, BWD-B 69; Spartans 93, Bodybuilding Club 71; Falcons 99, Machinists 83; Artiaga 76, Team Buguias 71; Total won by default over the Spartans; ROC 78, Dos Ribos 62; 50’s Dinner’s won by default over King Louis; and YMCA Bodybuilding Club 87, Spade 85.
Schedules of games next week: Aug 15, Mon 5:30PM (AA) Buguias vs Dos Ribos; 7:00 (AB) Team YMCA vs Suntrust; 8:30 (C) Kuya Pponz vs Dream Catcher. Aug 17, Wed: 5:30PM (AB) Mommy La Restaurant vs Falcons; 7:00 (AA) Basketball Club vs ROC; 8:30 (C) Inatech vs Spartans. Aug 19, Fri: 5:30PM (Y) ROC vs Golden Pine Hotel; 7:00 (M) Jinx vs Town’s Pizza; 8:30 (AB) Machinists vs 50’s Diners. Aug 21, Sun: 1:00PM (Y) Basketball Stars vs Golden Pine Hotel; 2:30 (M) BWD-A vs Joyrich Construction; 4:00 (C) Knights vs Bodybuilding Club.
By: BOBBY VINLUAN
