KSA - Al Hoty and Arcan Vita dig deep to down rivals

DAMMAM (EPBL) - "When the going gets tough, the tough get going". Newcomer Al Majdouie Group learned this the hard way on Friday when they lost in overtime to the more experienced Al Hoty in a 95-94 cliffhanger. The loss ushered their early exit from the Inter-Company Non-Rated Division in the 2007 Commissioner's Cup hosted by the prestigious Eastern Province Basketball League at the Al-Ettifaq club in this city.

Meanwhile, on the same day, Arcan Vita stopped Mazda with a 73-71 thriller in the semifinal round of the Open Non-Rated Class.

Al Misehal Group and Isam Kabbani and Partners Group are the major sponsors of the Commissioners Cup supported by Hoshan Office Automation and Phuket Restaurant.

Nelson Sambajon nearly eclipsed his 47-point personal best after having another brilliant performance with 43 points to land Al Hoty the top spot in its Group. Sambajon achieved his personal best when Al Hoty beat Al Tuwairqi in April this year.

Under the tournament's format, Al Hoty's win over Al Majdouie will lead them to a knock-out game against the fancied Jarir Bookstore.

Al Majdouie looked headed to their first tournament win as Jonathan Soveza and Hilbert Tagara anchored the team's 39-30 lead in a slow first half. Sensing urgency, Al Hoty started to close in behind Bong Arevalos' back-to-back treys and Sambajon's scoring foray in the third.

Al Hoty's Pepe Esmalde had two of his four triples in the last quarter, Arevalo added one more trey and Sambajon exploded with 16 points in a back-breaking final period.

The exciting match went into overtime after Al Majdouie's Andrew Catalo split his free throws in the dying seconds to level at 83-all.

Both teams traded baskets in overtime with Paulo Macaculop giving Al Majdouie the 94-93 upperhand with 8 ticks left. In the return play, however, Al Hoty maintained their poise as Al Majdouie's defenders scampered to stop Boy Sese's inside pass to Sambajon for the winning basket.

Arevalo had 27 points while Esmalde added 12 points.

Soveza led Al Majdouie's with 28 points, Macaculop chipped in 22 while Tagara and Catalo added 18 and 11 points, respectively.

In another exciting battle, even if Arcan Vita can no longer get the first finals berth, they still played relentlessly and made a big defensive stop towards the end in trouncing the erstwhile undefeated Mazda, 73-71, in the Al Ettifaq Club.

Flashy guard Tolentino became an instant hero when he converted a three-point shot with 45 seconds remaining to break a 69-all count in the last canto enabling Arcan to regain their momentum. Mazda's Marvin Maniago quickly responded to make it 72-71 with 36 seconds remaining.

Both teams played great defense on the dying seconds until Alfie Santillan was fouled with only 4.7 seconds left. Santillan converted his first free throw but awefully missed his second. Mazda's Jojo Romero took the rebound but was not able to make a fastbreak play as Jhun Moneva was all over him forcing Mazda to call for a timeout with 2.6 seconds remaining.

With the sticky defense applied the Arcans, Mazda was not able put up a shot until time expired.

Jhun Moneva led all Arcan scorers with 28 points while Tolentino added 22 and Danny Papag had seven points before fouling out in the third quarter.

Maniago topscored for Mazda with 23 points despite a technical foul in the third period. Ferdie Batand added 13 points while Aldwin Bauyon and Romero chipped in 11 points apiece.

Mazda's (5-1) loss however didn't affect their standing. Even if they win over Arcan they still have to face their main rival Saudi Techint, having a 5-1 win-loss card this Friday for the first finals seat in the Non Rated Class.

The win was a morale booster for the Arcans as they now await their opponent from the wild card phase for the right to play against the loser of Mazda-Saudi Techint rubbber match.

Meanwhile in the Premiere League, defending champion PSSE further improved its stranglehold of the top stop following a win over Rizal Pirates, 85-76.

In the Inter-Company Non-Rated Division, Saudi Paper will play against the loser of Panda-Tuwairqi duel after notching the third spot when Sintec/Sogec defaulted in their scheduled match.

By Romeo O. Navidad
FIBA Correspondent in Saudi Arabia