After a sloppy start, defending champion Peched Raw managed to climb back using a fourth quarter rally to beat a tough Meda squad, 77-58 Wednesday night in the ongoing 2012 season of the IP&E National Basketball League (NBL) at the Palau National gym.

Peched Raw opened their game with a slow start that saw them behind Meda, 7-12 in the opening quarter. However, Peched Raw heated things up in the third as they outscored Meda with a 26-12 run to take the lead at 47-40.

The defending champs used their speed as they orchestrated a 30-18 blast in the final quarter to secure the win. Douglas Schmidt paced Peched Raw with 16 points while teammates King Ngirboi and Dennis Castro chipped in 15 and 12 markers respectively as they still lead in the team standings with a 16-1 win-loss record.

On the other hand, Meda was not able to sustain its run in the first half as they fell 6-11 despite the 11 point performance of Joshua Kloulubak.

In other games, Aqua Smooth spank Nationals 17 and Under, 71-62; Spoilers won over Melengoes, 102-88; Islanders down Surangel Kings, 86-48; and Kabong escaped with a 68-65 win against Mercury Optimax.

Games will resume tonight with Nationals 17 and Under against Meda at 6 p.m. followed by the Melengoes-Kabong tussle at 7:30 p.m. while Islanders will be pitted against 4x4 Wheelers in the main game at 9 p.m.

Monday night games will have Surangel Kings against Nationals 17 and Under at 7:30 p.m. while 4x4 Wheelers will meet Aqua Smooth in the night cap at 9 p.m.

The tournament, which is supervised by the Palau Basketball Federation (PBF), is a tobacco, alcohol and drug free program. Any violators will be banned from participating. For more information call Topps at 488-4491.  By Peter Erick L. Magbanua (Island Times News)