BAGUIO CITY – Older team performers is no problem on a healthy competition, as the strawberry pickers’ picks their first win over team YMCA on their first inning under bracket “A” of the 9th YMCA Cup, 81-63 on game one of the eliminations on June 22, 2015.
Showing tenacity and focus on the hard court, the pickers’ controlled the boards with a 24-11 run on the first canto, which was trimmed down by team YMCA to eight points at the end of the second quarter through a 22-17 blast 41-33 on the scoreboard. Team YMCA by the shooting prowess of Ferdinand Sapalong on the arc and on the inside manage to force the pickers’ lead to a one point deficit on the dying minutes of the third canto 44-45 however, the rally was contained by pickers’ Joven Caleno and Giovani Cuilan who orchestrated a 22-18 run and a 12 point deficit over team YMCA at the end of the third canto 63-51 and throughout the fourth canto with an 18 point deficit 81-63 at end time. Meanwhile, Bracket Y’s Team Irisan posted a high 56 points deficit over the King Tigers on a one sided game 13-0, 32-17, 26-15, 33-0 quarter scores, for a 103-47 tally in the closing buzzer.
On the other hand, Teleperformance outscored the Lifesavers 75 – 72 in Sundays’ June 21, 2015 match-up for Bracket M, while the Knights coming from behind beat the buzzer by one point against YMCA BBC to gain their first win in bracket “C” 71 – 70 on the last canto of play, with the Basketball Stars also posting a 42 point deficit against CVG 102-60 in game three under bracket M.
Bracket A match-ups last Monday, June 19, 2015 also saw St. Peter win their first game by 10 points, 82 – 72 against BWD-B, while the Masters offense collapsed on the fourth canto after a 2 point deficit was posted by BWD-A in the final seconds of the third canto of play 61 – 63, that gave the BWD-A the upper hand on the fourth canto to win their first match 76 – 87.