MOF was just too much for the Educators entering the first half, as they were constantly pounded with three point barrages and mid-range shooting from three prolific shooters, Weston Ketebengang, Edson Chiokai, and Sunshine Soalablai. As a result, they grabbed a very relaxing lead of 36 – 29 ending the first half of the match. As the second half started, Weston continued his left-hand drives, long-range shots, and baseline drives giving him a total of 30points for his team. Edson and Sunshine joined in the scoring as they produced 25 and 16 in that order to extend more on their lead 72 – 58, entering the fourth quarter. With a score of 72 – 58 starting the final minutes of the game, Spiders seemed relentless and just would not give up, found their second wind as they created a 13 – 2 run to cut the 20 point lead of MOF to just 10 courtesy of Yutaka Gibbons. Exchange of shots went on between the two teams that lasted till the final 4 minutes of the 4th quarter for the match. Coach Sinton of the Spiders decided to switch from a 1-3-1 defense to a man to man that paid good dividends to their team. MOF got rattled and created scoring opportunities for the Educators. Destin worked on his zig zagging drives to the hoop giving him12 points and as George shot a three on the left wing to slice MOF’s lead anew to just 4 points, MOF was forced to take a timeout to discuss matters. With a minute left in the game, and shot clock winding down to its last seconds, Sunshine shot an off-balanced, buzzer beater shot that gave Team Finance a six point lead. As fans of the ministry celebrate, Spiders made a quick inbound and set up their go-to-guy, Yutaka Gibbons. Scoring 46 points of the entire game, Yutaka took the ball on the right wing of the court, evades two opponent tightly guarding him, fakes and pops, putting in a three point to give a score of 93 – 90 with 13.1 ticks left. As would any coach and player has done, Spiders played the “quick foul” formula in trying to get the ball back to their side. Weston of MOF then sank 1 of the 2 freethrows extending their lead to 4 points with 9 ticks to go. Spiders then made two desperation shots beyond the arc but could not connect as time run out on them giving the crown to the Ministry of Finance.
As for the first game of the night, the battle for third and fourth was between Ministry of Justice (MOJ), who managed to squeeze a win from the President’s Men shortened line-up of just 5 players, getting a score of 88 – 84. It was all Presidents’ Men dominating from the first to third quarter getting points from Van and Mekeruul. Van posted 27 points on the board being the leader of the group while Mekeruuls’ 22 gave them advantage on the breaks. This scenario went on till MOJ finally realized of the “Men’s” weakness of not having enough players. Taking advantage of this, Duo of MOJ, finished with 27 points keeping the game close. Joining him on this category, teammate McVay, shooting for 19 points. MOJ fortified on their defense that resulted to turnovers for the “Men’s” and eventually points. They slowly chopped their opponents’ lead ultimately and giving them the go ahead signal to make a run for the finish. With that, MOJ and President’s Men placed third and fourth, in that order, for the government division.
