Giants too hot for Al Ittihad

By PATRICK SALOMON


THE visiting Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants overcame fatigue and jetlag last night to comfortably turn away Al Ittihad Club 94-57 in their opening tie in the fifth Bahrain-Philippines Goodwill Games at the Juffair Dome.

The Giants used a strong second quarter to blow a close game wide open, going on a 17-3 run in the period's closing minutes to build a commanding 51-27 lead at the halftime break. Rookie guard Chico Lanete was the catalyst, connecting on seven of the team's points while quickening the tempo to favour the more conditioned Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) professionals.

"Not that I am boasting, but I think we had a relatively easy game today," star player James Yap told the GDN.

The victors were near-perfect after a sub-par first quarter, where they finished ahead by just six (23-17) after reserve guard Peter Jun Simon sank a three-pointer from the baseline to beat the buzzer.

After the Giants' stellar second period, which was capped by five straight points from Yap, big man Rommel Adducul took control in the third, dominating the paint with his strong interior presence and helping the Giants head into the fourth with a commanding 78-42 advantage.

They would eventually build leads as high as 39 points twice in the closing frame (83-44, 94-55), before finally pegging the final score and the lopsided 37-point win.

"We were able to make use of our size-advantage," Yap said. "But they gave us some problems with their speed. Our opponents in the PBA are not this quick, so they were able to force us to run all game. But that was good for us since it will help us get into shape."

Yap scored a quiet nine points in the game in the limited time he was fielded by head coach Ryan Gregorio. Topping the score sheet were Lanete and Simon, who each had 16 points.

Veteran Rey Evangelista contributed another 13, Adducul 11 and Paul Artadi 10. Pingris finished with 9 points, Jondan Salvador 4 and Richard Yee 2 markers. The Giants' multi-talented forward Kerby Raymundo had just four points in the short time he saw action. He did not play in the second half.

Ittihad were led by guard Jalal Akbar, who had 15 points including four three-pointers, while teammate Kadhem Majid finished with 13 markers.

Struggling

"We struggled early in the first quarter probably because of the adjustment in the time zone, but after we got our sweat out, we played our usual game and were able to breeze by our opponents," Gregorio said of the win.

"We want to be a running team in the upcoming PBA season, but tough both offensively and defensively. We did that today with our fast breaks, and that was a good sign."

Asked whether he would field his star players more in tonight's Goodwill Games curtain-closer against Bahrain's Al Hala Club, Gregorio said: "Surely. We had to rest them a little bit today because we had a tough practice in the morning and I did not want to tire them. But we are definitely going to prepare hard and go all out to win tomorrow."

The Giants take on Hala today at 7.30pm at the same venue. The contest is the main event of this year's Games, with the visitors looking to maintain an undefeated record for the visiting PBA teams against Bahrain's clubs.

"Philippine pride is at stake," Yap said when learning of the Filipinos' unbeaten record. "I guess the pressure will be on us to win, but we accept the challenge."

The game will be preceded by a game between the US Naval Support Activity - Bahrain and the New Jumbo Jewellers, who defeated a Filipino-American selection 99-60 in yesterday's other game.