TIM Dumacas scored game-high 32 points on Wednesday to anchor Amazing ’09 past Glitters Production, 84-76 and took the Game 1 of the Best-of-Three Finals of the ongoing LNA7/USLS Alumni Inter-Barkada basketball tournament played at the West Negros University gym.
Dumancas was unstoppable from inside and outside the shaded area as he nailed 24 of the team’s 30 points production in the third quarter to post a 61-54 lead at the end of the period.
At the start of the playoff quarter, Jovi Sayson strong drive to the basket further extended Amazing’s lead to 62-54 but Mark Celestial converted 6 straight points to cut the lead to 3 points.
Nico Lopingco dribbled towards the left wing and launched a triple to give Amazing a 6-point lead, 66-60.
But Celestial was sizzling hot as he hit back with his own 3-pointer to cut the lead anew to 3 points, 66-63 however, Sayson pulled up a 2-pointer to keep Amazing at distance, 68-63.
Amazing then intercept the inbound play and took the ball possession as Dumancas tried to nail another lay-up but was fouled and given two free throws. However, he missed his first but gave Amazing a 6-point advantage, 71-66.
Glitters had a chance to cut the lead on Edmund Castellano’s lay-up but overshoot as Derek Sibug controlled the boards and threw the ball to Lopingco on a fast break for another 2 points.
But Celestial single-handedly battled for points as he nailed a lay-up to cut the lead anew to 5 points, 73-68.
On transition, Dumancas launched a quick triple, a meter away from the arc, to give Amazing a comfortable lead, 76-68.
Celestial took a speedy drive to the basket and hooked a foul from Mitch Sindol, making both free throws to keep Glitters at a striking distance at 76-69 as it entered the 2 minute mark.
But Dumancas hit a short jumper on top of the key for a 78-70 lead as Stephen Escalante nailed a put back off the miss of Castellano for a 78-72 score.
Amazing then lost ball possession as Dumancas went out of bounds on the fastbreak as Castellano converted a lay-up to keep Glitters closer, 78-74.
But the driving Sindol nailed a basket and hooked a foul from Celestial, and was awarded a free throw to post an 81-74 lead with 40.9 seconds left in the game.
Andrew Torres nailed 2 points to cut the lead to 5 points, 81-76 with 30 seconds left.
Lopingco got hacked towards the basket but split his free throws for an 82-76 lead with 25.6 seconds remaining in the game clock.
Glitters tried to hit back but missed their opportunity as Amazing sealed the match on Lopingco’s free throws off a foul from Torres, 84-76.
Lopingco scored 15 points to support Dumancas’ 32-point output as Sayson finished with 11 while Sibug and Sindol had 7 apiece.
Meanwhile, Celestial led Glitters with 19 points as Castellano and Torres with 12 each while Nico Ganir with 10 and Escalante with 7 points.*
No comments:
Post a Comment