JEDDAH, 25 August 2005 — CGS Toyota got the better of Klasmeyts in a battle of the unbeatens to score a 65-61 victory Thursday in the 1st Seiko-Honda and 2nd UMEA-WPBL Tournament at the Al Kaki Sports Complex basketball court here.
Rasaku Santan ABC pulled off a big win Friday against Inter-Commercial Bonafide Mixed B-2 Division top contender Abdulkarim Trading (Mushrifah), while Samba Speed Cash ran their record to 3-0 after a 71-69 triumph over Al Badr Hotel and moved to within a victory of qualifying as the waiting team in the final of the centerpiece Inter-Commercial Reinforced A Division.
Defending Inter-Maguindanaoan C Division champions Davao Kalagan continued their revival beating Socsargen 71-64 for an even 2-2 card.
Birks also evened their record at 2-2 in the Inter-Commercial Mixed B-1 Division with a narrow 57-55 win over ACS Cargo, while King Faisal Specialist Hospital rolled back Axe Unilever 62-57 in the other Friday matches.
Panda Savola beat M-Dizers 54-47 Thursday to end up tied with Abdulkarim Trading at 3-1 after the weekend games in the 26-team four-division tournament organized by United Maguindanaoan Expatriates Association-Western Province Basketball League.
Zambasulta tasted their first win in two outings with a 74-41 demolition of Sibuco Zambo Norte in a C Division contest Thursday.
Managed by Jimmy Beltran, the CGS Toyota squad tightened their game with an effective 1-2-2 defense and pick and roll plays in the fourth quarter although they did breathe easy only in the waning minutes in light of Klasmeyts’ durable stand.
Batarao whose first half sallies in tandem with Picache gave Toyota a 35-30 lead at the end of the period finished with 32 points. Picache added 17 and Gadingan 10 to offset the 36-point production by Villegas (25) and Banaag (11) for Klasmeyts.
The win fashioned before another huge Thursday crowd was Toyota’s third straight putting the team in a collision course with idle Fuddruckers who are the only other undefeated squad in the division.
The zone defense and low post plays laid by coach Zaldy Mohammed paid Rasaku dividends in what surprisingly turned out an easy 72-56 win against the erstwhile unbeaten Abdulkram Trading.
Bullags and Olama led Rasaku with 15 and 12 points respectively.
The last conference MVP Joven Batuan hit a fastbreak basket and free throws in the final minute that cushioned Samba’s win against the rallying Al Badr Hotel. A. Mabarit topscored for Samba with 21 points while Unas and Jr. Mabarit each made 14.
Zambasulta led all the way frustrating high-energy performers Maliki and Mamang of Sibuco.
Richie Estrada’s free throws with 20 seconds to play broke a 53-53- tie and Abril Mabarit’s layup insured the Birks victory in a tight battle against ACS. The tournament enjoys the full support of two major sponsors namely Abdullah Hasim Co. Ltd. (Honda) and Alhusseini and Al-Yahya Trading Co., distributors of Seiko watches in the Kingdom.
The Honda sponsorship was facilitated by Hashim A. Hashim, the company’s managing director, Shaqib Haider, Honda Division GM, and Aiman Faleemban, Administration GM.
Seiko’s entry as the new partner of UMEA-WPBL was approved by company owner Abdulraman Al Hussaini on recommendation by Hussam Salahi and Mohd. Ali Talib.
The co-sponsors are WRJ Cargo Forwarders, Fuddruckers Restaurant, Al Masael Electronics (Installment 4 Kabayan) and Al Haddaf Sports Wear and Arab News.
Games today:
5:30 p.m. — M-Dizers vs Diwan Paramount
7 p.m. — Fuddruckers vs Zuhair Fayez.
8:30 p.m. — Heinz-ABC Indonesia vs Jolo Valiant.
10 p.m. — Samba Speed Cash vs King Faisal Specialist
Hospital.
Games tomorrow:
5:30 p.m.- Rasaku-ABC vs NJ Alraya.
7 p.m. — Faisaliyah vs Zambasulta.
8:30 pm. — Universal Motors Agency vs CGS-Toyota.
10 p.m. — Axe-Unilevr vs Micoop/Nunungan.
