LINGAYEN, Pangasinan – Pangasinan defeated Philippine International Trading Corporation (PITC) team in a friendly but hard fought match held at the Narciso Ramos Sports and Civic Center (NRSCC) Gymnasium on August 17, 2018.
While the PITC led by Undersecretary Dave Almarinez dominated in the seven minutes of the first quarter bannered by their towering players, Pangasinan, led by Marven Jophet Mamaril and Roxar Melendez powered up the defense to reduce the lead by two points by the end of the first quarter, 29-27.
Mamaril repeatedly stunned the crowd with his back-to-back 3-point shots drawing more loud cheers inside the sports arena. However, PITC regained their momentum and showed eagerness to set the first deadlock, 37-37 with eight minutes left on the second quarter.
Equally-strong players of Pangasinan All-Stars, such as: Manny Santos, Bryan Rosalin and Aljick Aquino found their rhythm in the last minutes of second quarter setting an 11-point advantage against PITC, 69-58.
Meanwhile, the guest players proved that they don’t easily back down. With 5 minutes and 28 minutes left in the third quarter, PITC broke the rising momentum of Pangasinan and reduce the lead by two points, 75-73.
Pangasinan, on the other hand, fought with ferocity and powered up their play with Reynald Ballesteros driving the ball. Given the ample time and opportunity, Ballesteros displayed a dunk shot that left the spectators in daze garnering a 9-point lead for his team at the end of the third quarter, 91-82.
The fourth quarter started with a bang as Pangasinan Governor Cup’s Inter-Town/City Basketball Tournament finest players Mamaril and Melendez led their team towards the art of teamwork to win the game.
With 1 minute and 44 seconds left in the fourth quarter, another deadlock was posted, 122-122, stirring both teams to work on their plays. Heating up the action-packed game, the match was prolonged through a five-minute overtime after a deadlock at the end of the fourth quarter, 131-131.
Powerhouse Pangasinan hauled their victory via a dumbfounding 3-point shot of Mamaril ending the game with a 2-point lead, 140-138, to crush their opponents’ will to win.
Also present to cheer up the Pangasinan Dream Team was Governor Amado I. Espino, III who also welcomed the guests to the province of Pangasinan.
PITC is composed of the following: Ali Dasalla (12), Lester Gecale (17), Eric Lopez (5), Aloysius Tapla (2), Amin Barry (30), Mr Arafat (33), Prince Abner (7), Tey Teodoro (14), Sydney Unwebere (23) and USec. Dave Alamarinez (1).
By: Shiella Mae C. De Guzman
