Standing at sixth place in their bracket Banayad Boys were the underdog in the recent match against Spartans who was ranking third. But this did not deter them to play good ball and frustrate their opponent with a five-point victory at the first season of the Samahang Basketbolista sa Umaga tourney.
The game took off on quite an exciting note as both teams played tough defense, considering that winner enters the semis.
And so as the gods and the spirits would have it, Spartans broke first blood but Banayad Boys (smooth boys in Filipino) indeed it smooth with more defense and a dynamic team work to finish the first frame at 12-8 to their advantage.
As the boys started heating up in the second quarter, so did the crowd – with the Spartans closing the second half by a mere three point lead, 21-19
Third frame was when the action got to the boiling point with the Banayad Boys’ Baste (#20) and Lingat (#15) doing a scathing defense enabling Estolero (#21), Maghirang (#15) and the best player of the game, Rico (#18) to rain treys to bury the Spartans 39-31.
“Never say die!” brought the Spartans into the game on to the fourth quarter, doing an 8-0 run to tie the score at 39. But as luck would have it, Banayad Boys saw an opening and put in a two-pointer field goal – which as it would turn out, was however, not enough: the Spartans have broken loose and was letting out a spectacular show of their own even clinching the lead at 43-42.
Pushed to the wall, Banayad Boys called a time-out to break the Spartans’ momentum with five minutes remaining and returned with a better defense to win the match, 55-50.
Banayad Boys will meet Batangas Angas in the semis. (JD)
