SAMAHANG Ilokano at Pangasinense and the PTI Yankees notched contrasting wins at the start of the playoffs in the 35-and-up division of the 2006-2007 Masters Basketball League last Monday at the Gilbert C. Ada Gym.
SIP clobbered the PTI Typhoons, 97-69, while the Yankees thwarted the Old’Aces, 89-86, to move closer to the finals.
The Typhoons and SIP, which finished as the top two in the regular season, will collide this Friday with the winner getting the first championship berth.
Balanced scoring helped SIP beat the Typhoons easily, as it had five players scoring in double figures.
Tony Diaz led the way with 31 points, while Ric Alegre and William Opone chipped in 18 and 12 markers, respectively. Big men Ronald Delos Reyes and Richard Pambid contributed 11 points each.
The Typhoons kept SIP at bay only in the first quarter. Ed Cosino scored the Typhoons’ first 10 points and his team faced only a three-point deficit, 19-22, entering the second quarter.
But Tony Diaz and Ric Alegre joined forces in the SIP breakaway in the second period combining for 16 of the team’s 22 points to take a 44-30 halftime lead.
Diaz continued to burn the hoops in the second half, while Opone and Pambid joined the scoring spree to lift SIP to a 28-point win.
George Masga paced the Typhoons with 26 points, while Cosino finished with 11 markers. Masga and Cosino were the only ones that scored in double figures for the losing team.
In the second game, Ed Palma and Edsel Mendoza combined for more than half of the Yankees’ total production to move their team a win away from a finals ticket.
Mendoza led all scorers with 29 points, while Palma added 24.
Richard Brostrom also helped the Yankees’ cause, as he scored the team’s last four points to foil an Old’Aces’ comeback bid. Brostrom finished with 13 markers.
John Santos topscored for the Old’Aces with 26 markers earning most of his points from the 3-point area. He had five triples, all of which he drilled in the first half. Elias Rangamar contributed 18 points.
The Old’Aces hope to keep their finals bid alive when they meet the Typhoons this Friday.
The winner of the Old’Aces-Typhoons match will face the loser of the SIP-Yankees tiff for the last finals seat.
Meanwhile, LBT and Proa battle for the first finals berth in the 45-and-up division tonight at 8:30 p.m.
LBT won via default over the Old’Aces, while Proa downed the Dino Sores, 68-50, last Monday to move a win away from advancing to the championship match.
In the first game, Top 45 takes on NIC in the first game at 7 p.m. with the winner squaring off with the pennant champion PTI Storms on Monday for the second finals slot.
Scores:
First Game
SIP 97—Diaz 31, R. Alegre 18, Opone 12, Delos Reyes 11, Pambid 11, Macoto 5, Cayetano 4.
Typhoons 68—G. Masga 26, Cosino 11, Vistal 6, J. Palacios 5, Bicera 5, Ocampo 4, Babauta 2, O. Masga 2.
Second Game:
Yankees 89—Mendoza 29, Palma 24, Brostrom 13, Poquiz 8, Villegas 8, Berline 5, Warfield 2.
Old’Aces 86—Santos 26, Rangamar 16, Thompson 7, Ruluked 4, Renguul 4, Frink 4, Coleman 2, Aguon 2.