By Roselyn B. Monroyo
Variety News Staff

JOSHUA strengthened its chances for the pennant after downing Hosea 79-70, in the 2nd Calvary International Mission-Filipino Community Church Inter-Color Basketball League-Genesis Invitational Cup last Monday at the CIM-FCC court in Gualo Rai.
Joshua ended the regular season of the 2nd Genesis Cup with an 8-1 record and temporarily holds the lead in the 10-team tournament. It is two wins ahead of Daniel and Jeremiah, which have identical 6-1 slates.
If Daniel and Jeremiah win their last two games, there will be a triple tie for the No. 1 spot. A quotient system will be implemented to break the tie and determine the pennant winner, which will also get an automatic semis slot.
Joshua took advantage of Hosea’s sluggish start to control the game early and secured a nine-point win.
Hosea scored only 13 points in the first quarter, which ended with Joshua up by eight, 21-13.
Hosea’s offensive game was even worse in the second quarter, as only Preston Basa drilled more than one fieldgoal for his team in that canto and Hosea posted only 10 points.
With Hosea still failing to hit its marks, Joshua took a 43-23 halftime advantage.
Hosea picked up the scoring in the second half with Basa finally getting help from Bill Babauta and James Camacho.
But Joshua found ways to foil Hosea’s repeated comeback bids with Ronnie and Laro Palero, Kelvin Fitial and Jeff Garcia hitting timely baskets.
Garcia topscored for Joshua with 21 points, while Fitial finished with 16 markers. Ronnie had 13 and Larry chipped in 12.
Bing Marasigan was the fifth Joshua player to score in double figures with 11.
Basa led all scorers with 33 points and had six triples. Camacho contributed 17 and Babauta nailed 12.
In the second game, Jeremiah kept its pennant bid alive with a 78-71 triumph over Gideon.
Jeremiah had an explosive start with Jonathan Lim providing the spark on their team’s offense.
Lim had 11 points in the first period, giving Jeremiah a 29-16 lead entering the second period.
Lim was silent in the second quarter while the rest of his teammates struggled, as Jeremiah was held to seven points in that period.
But because of Jeremiah’s jackrabbit start and Gideon’s not performing that well on offense scoring only 13 points, the former hung on to a 36-29 halftime lead.
The second half was a close fight with Jeremiah getting enough contributions from Kevin Cequena, Rowell Aranda and Errol Peredo to secure its sixth win in seven games.
Gideon finished the regular season with a dismal 2-7 slate and joins Hosea (1-7) and Samuel (1-8) in the showers.
Jeremiah and Joshua are in the playoffs with Daniel (6-1) Elijah (5-3), Caleb (5-4), Nehemiah (4-4) and Isaiah (3-5).
The results of the four remaining games in the regular season will determine the final position of the seven qualifiers.
Tomorrow, Daniel takes on Elijah at 7 p.m.
On Monday, Feb. 5 Nehemiah and Jeremiah, whose match was halted by rain, will resume their game in the third quarter starting at 7 p.m.
Daniel and Isaiah will have their turn in the second game on Monday and will start their match in the second quarter.
Jeremiah and Hosea will be featured in the final game of the regular season next Thursday, Feb. 8.