Having no appearance in three quarters, Elmer Esdrelon can not afford to disappoint his team as he turned up in the final period.
And he knew he couldn’t so did not fail.
He drove the tying basket first, launched a long-range shot twice and outscored everybody as he went unstoppable to send Diamond Ali’l to its 108-105 win.
The 23 points he tallied, although did not hand Diamond Ali’l a big win this time, was a huge count compared to his eight-point feat when they lost big time to IT&E last week.
Talania set the lead in the first quarter and added eight more baskets to finish with 18 points for Diamond Ali’l while JR Barrios had 15 points including a three-pointer in the second quarter.
Saipan Fresh’s Lerio Pagarao blew past Diamond Ali’l in the third quarter firing 18 of his 33 points, his highest in the season.
Gil Gapor took charge in dealing with Esdrelon’s rampage in the fourth period where he controlled the offense with 13 of his 27 points.
But with support from Junar Guiab and Darwin Barbo who also saw full action only in the fourth quarter, Esdrelon allowed Diamond Ali’l to cling to their lead and win the game.
Loyola 91, Cool Water 88
Jun Tabora basketed five of his six free throws and scored nine of his 23 points in the final quarter, while Ariel rampaged with eight points to bring University of Loyola back on its feet to win the game, 91-88.
Loyola recovered the first time in the second quarter with Tabora and Ed Cosino leading the scoring hands to put the game back to square one after the half time break.
Ariel burst with nine baskets including a three-pointer.
Cool Water took the lead again as Gilbert Espinosa raced it away with eight points.
The game continued to go neck-and-neck in the final period as Bernard Montano scattered the court with 14 of his 26 points.
Tabora and Ariel on the other hand kept pace, picking up fouls that added up to their winning way all the way to their victory.
Scores:
Diamond Ali’l 108 – E. Esdrelon 23, B. Talania 18, J. Barrios 15, J. Guiab 11, J. Artates 10, M. Capalad 10, G. Mercurio 8, D. Barbo 4, B. Montano 3, W. Capalad 2.
Saipan Fresh 105 – L. Pagarao 33, G. Gapor 27, L. Factor 14, J. Estolas 12, William 11, G. De Guzman 5, J. Tumaquip 3, R. Sanciangco 2.
Quarterscores: 21-16, 45-36, 67-70, 108-105
Loyola 91 – Ariel 28, J. Tabora 23, E. Cosino 18, F. Dela Torre 9, M. Puri 5, M. Villarin 4, M. Moran 2, J. Salazar 2.
Cool Water 88 – B. Montano 26, G.Espinosa 16, M. Moreno 14, D. Pablo 14, Joseph 10, J. Lopez 4, J. Buniag 2, E. Delfin 2.
Quarterscores: 19-21, 40-40, 65-61, 91-88
