"A cyclinder defense by Christian Candido of Batang Sanna against Giovanni Claverio of Unibeton".

By Chris Panganiban
Pictures by: Ronnie Castro

 

 

DOHA:Two former collegiate league standouts and team mates Ronie Cajayon and Bryan Tolentino lifted Stars Botak to a pull away triumph to dislodge erstwhile tournament leader One Family-Office System, 87-78, to the top spot in the ongoing Power Horse Energy Drink Cup 2013 of Pinoy Basketball of Qatar (PIBAQ), presented by McDonald's Restaurants in Qatar & powered by Travelex Currency Exchange at Al Gharafa Training Gym over the weekend.

Not to be left behind, QDVC LRT which emerged a strong contender this season also climbed to first place standing alongside Stars Botak with four wins and no losses while One Family was relegated to the second place with four wins and one loss record.

QDVC earned the top spot by thumping Mercury Engineering by a large 27-point margin, 77-50, a feat which all other teams should not take them lightly as the battle becomes tougher and tougher in the elimination rounds.

Cajayon and Tolentino, former team mates at National University Bulldogs, played fluidly all throughout the game that One Family reliable old hands could not stop the momentum of a fast running play execution coupled by the domination of the board by Dennis Cabigkis.

One Family’s former MVP Anthony Isip tried to put off the fire with his 23-point output but was not good enough from the Cajayon-Tolentino connection. Even team mate Michael Olino contributed 16 points in an effort to stop the unstoppable duo.

A hardcourt analyst said the rise of Stars Botak and QDVC LRT to dominate early in the team standings would likely send them to the coveted big four teams going into the semi-final rounds.

According to Carlos Caguimbal, a long-timer PIBAQ follower and expert in studying the flow of the games, that the games has now become unpredictable and dominance seems to be a thing of the past as league officials have already found a good formula of balancing the categories and players for most teams.

He cited the case of QP Dukhan which has an impressive strong line up with collegiate league stars yet they fared poorly with successive three stinging losses.

In other exciting games, Batang Sanna survived a thriller to continue their winning streak in the hands of Unibeton, 80-76, who fought fiercely in the third quarters but slipped through the dying minutes when power forward Melvin de Lara was slapped with unsportsmanlike conduct by veteran referee Aries Fernandez.

The game was tied in the first and second quarter, 24-all and 43-all, and Unibeton even was leading by two points in the third quarter, 59-57, only to crumble in the hertbreaking loss in the final buzzer.

QAFAC pulled a big surprise win over former champion KBAS Contracting to get the first taste of victory, 85-79, after three successive losses since the tournament started via the heroics of vetarans Elmer Santander and John Paul Baluyot.

The Santander and Baluyot tandem seems overpowering in their offensive chores as they attacked the inside and outside of 15-foot line with basket after basket to control most of the game.

Nurashim Mama tried to execute a comeback and trim down the ten-point lead to 70-63 with three minutes left but such rally was not good enough to the duo’s all-around play domination.

Other game results: IMCO Engineering returned to the win column by a wide 28-point margin over Gulf Warehousing, 80-52; Dukhan Ballers with a 50-point edge over Al Ghassar, 91-41; QP Dukhan win over CheChie with 79-51 and Nahkowh over The Diplomatic Club, 85-62.

The 13th Seasons' is also sponsored by Vista Land, Marketing International & Boracay Filipino Restaurants.

 

Teams Scores-Game 30:

QAFAC , 85: John Paul Baluyot-32, Elmer Santander-24, Gary Urbano-13, James Sangel-12 and Dennis Endaya-4.

KBAS Contracting , 79: Mac Gomez-22, Pocholo Santos-15, Nurashim Mama-15, Robert Mateo-8, AJ Castro-8, Rafael Colo-7, Nikos Valerio-3 & Glenberth Madrona-1.

 

Teams Scores-Game 34:

Batang Sanna, 80: Jason Macatuggal-17, Bogs Laher-15, Raphael Vallado-14, Aries Jose-11, Roel Odal-7, Christian Candido-6, Ryan Castronuevo-5, Mark Pagula-3, Jowen Santiago-2 and Jerson Sales-0. 

Unibeton, 76: Melvin De Lara-16, Noli Susi-13, Jason Tabardilla-11, Mark Navarro-9, Neslie Pangilinan-9, Giovani Chavero-7, Jeffrey Limioco-6, Allan Opiana-3 and Ryan Gonzales-2.

 

Teams Scores-Game 32:

Stars-Botak ,87: Ronnie Cajayon-18, Dennis Cabigkis-17, Bryan Tolentino-15, Tristan Cristobal-11, Peejay Santos-9, Serapio Sarmiento-8, LA Gapasin-7 and Dan Constantino-2. 

One Family-Office System,78 : Anthony Isip-23, Michael Olino-16, Virgilio Bolo-13, Richard Raagas-13, Glenn Mariano-5, Mark Dumpit-4 and Hussein Gandarosa-4.