THE COLLEGE of Commerce and Business Administration (Commerce) Men’s Basketball Team rode on a tense overtime, 77-74, leaving the Faculty of Arts and Letters (AB) Men’s Basketball Team winless after its second game in this year’s Thomasian Goodwill Games.
Commerce powerhouses Isaac Lim and Jose Mauricio Beredo racked up 16 points each, while Emmanuel Nicko Bahia and Paul Raphael Lopez led AB with 25 and 19 points, respectively.
Commerce almost escaped the threat of overtime after a thrilling 64-64 deadlock in the last 34 seconds of the quarter but turnovers from AB forced the game to the extended five minutes of action.
Lopez and Giuseppe Punzalan attempted to score points for AB but to no avail. AB then rewarded Commerce’s Lim with two free throw shots, allowing the men in yellow to take the lead at 67-64.
Lopez made two charities to lessen the gap, but was overpowered by Alvin Gerard Ungria and Lim’s consecutive lay-ups, 74-69, with less than two minutes left on the clock.
The Artlet crowd grew wild as Lopez dropped a clutch three-pointer to narrow the deficit to two, 72-74, with a minute and two seconds remaining in the game. Commerce’s Beredo then went for a trey, raising the tension between the teams at 77-72.
AB hustled during the last 25 seconds of the match with Lopez then preparing for a three-point shot, but Commerce’s Ungria managed to steal the ball, ending AB’s hope for another overtime.
Both teams boosted their offense and defense during the fourth quarter, but AB momentarily lost its pace, allowing Commerce’s Ungria, Kinkalle Santos, and Beredo to score baskets, which cut AB’s lead to six, 53-59.
The crowd in yellow cheered louder than ever after Miguel Salazar’s successful lay-up closed the gap to three, 59-62, in favor of AB. Kenneth Joseph Bataclan of AB quickly scored to regain his team’s two-point lead.
AB tried to stop Commerce from gaining more baskets by intensifying its defense. But in the last 34 seconds of the fourth quarter, AB’s Jorge Paolo Banal fouled Commerce’s Ungria who shot his charities, tying the score at 64-64.
AB was in favor during the first half of the match as Banal and Bahia contributed 10 and seven points, respectively.
Punzalan and Bahia made it rain three-point shots during the second and third quarters of the game, permitting AB to keep the lead at 32-20, 39-31, and 50-35.
AB’s team captain Punzalan admitted that his team collapsed and lost its pace during the second half of the game. F KRYSTAL GAYLE R. DIGAY and KIMVIRLY P. ZAYAT
