The G-Stars yanked an early lead in the game after Marvin Rabauliman and teammate Eddie Manalili collected 6 points a piece in the first 6 minutes of the quarter with Clayton Kenty contributing his four pence to secure their grip on the lead.
Meanwhile the Sparks were not daunted and did not go down without a fight as team players Ichitaro Faisao and Eugene Manglona scored 5 points and 4 points respectively in their herculean attempt to keep the G-Stars at bay.
By the end of the first quarter the G-Stars upheld a shaky 3 point lead over the Sparks, 18-15.
In the second quarter however, the Sparks managed to close the gap with a bitter taste of revenge in their mouths.
Sahj Hossain banked a downtown shot reinforced by three jump shots afterwards to collar in a total of 9 points.
Faisao and Romulo Sarmiento jumped into the band wagon and fended off another 6 points a piece before the quarter ended snatching the lead from the G-Stars by half time, 37-33.
Both teams entered the court for the second half of the game with one common goal: hand the opposing team the losing end.
The G-Stars could no longer penetrate the Sparks’ defense line in the third quarter of the game.
They were only able to score a total of 6 points in the 10 minutes that they had while the Sparks wasted no time and took every minute as an opportunity.
Hossain and Frank Mettao were able breach past the G-Stars’ defense line several times to connect 6 points each. By the end of the quarter the Sparks’ were still firmly gripping the lead by 14 points, 53-39.
The last quarter proved to be feisty. With the crowd already in a wild sporting frenzy the players started to miss their shots playing more aggressively to connect the ball to the basket.
The game was tossed back and forth after the G-Stars started catching up to the Sparks in the last 4 minutes of the game. The scores were tied at 53 points all after Marvin Rabauliman banked a jump shot off of the key.
The Sparks’ Ichitaro Faisao was then fouled during his attempt for a lay up shot with the referee granting him two charity shots; Faisao banked the second one successfully. Clayton Kenty from the G-Stars slipped past the Sparks’ center man for a jump shot to yank the lead from the Sparks by a hairline.
Faisao then fended off a jump shot to yank the lead back from the G-Stars but not for long. Manalili then scored a basket from the free throw line to snatch the lead again.
The seconds were ticking down as the game’s atmosphere intensified. Jacob Palacios of the G-Stars banked the final basket to hand the G-Stars a come from behind win serving the Sparks their second upset in the league, 63-62.
Scores:
G-Stars– M. Rabauliman 21, E. Manalili 12, C. Kenty 10, D. Palacios 10, J. Jung 4, L. Byun 3, J. Palacios 3.
Sparks– I. Faisao 20, S. Hossain 17, E. Manglona 8, R. Sarmiento 6, F. Mettao 6, J. Norita 4.
