Purefoods too good for Hala

By PATRICK SALOMON Gulf Daily News Sept. 1, 2007

THE Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants yesterday maintained the undefeated record of visiting Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) teams with a hard-earned 75-58 triumph over local club Al Hala in the main event of the fifth Bahrain-Philippines Goodwill Games, played at a jam-packed Juffair Dome.

The Giants were rusty for much of the second half as they allowed a one-sided game get tight, but still were good enough to prevail in the end, boosted by a pair of timely three-pointers from guard Peter Jun Simon.

Simon's first triple came from the left wing to give his team a 67-53 lead with just two minutes left. Young Hala guard Ahmed Ali then sank his own three on the very next possession to make it 67-56, and Hala were threatening to get within single digits.

Simon, however, would have none of it as he sank the back-breaker with under a minute to play to extend their cushion to 14 once more and put the game away.

Do-it-all forward Kerby Raymundo then capped the win with an emphatic tomahawk slam dunk at the final buzzer, providing a fitting climax to what was labelled as the most successful Goodwill Games held in Bahrain.

"We were aiming for a 20-point win, and we came up three points short. But that's alright, we gave our fans a show, and that's what counted," Giants head coach Ryan Gregorio told the GDN as the team celebrated on the court.

"Most of the time, when we're up against a big challenge, we rise to the occasion. Our opponents were tough to handle at times, but I think our guys felt that we should play for the crowd here and exert just enough effort for the win.

"That's exactly what we did, and we hope we gave our fans a good display of our brand of basketball."

The Giants took a comfortable 24-16 lead into the second quarter, at the end of which they doubled their advantage to 44-29 behind strong play from star guard James Yap and backcourt partner Paul Artadi, who combined for nine of the team's points in the period.

In the third quarter, however, Hala clamped down defensively and slowed the tempo, gradually chipping away at the Giants' advantage to head into the fourth facing only a 12-point (55-43) deficit.

The Bahrainis then got to as close as nine points (55-46) with a Hussain Murtadha three-pointer early in the final frame. But the Giants held their composure, and behind eight points from Simon in the quarter, which included his two game-clinching threes, made it a perfect 10 wins in 10 contests over the five editions of the Goodwill Games for the visiting Philippine teams.

"It has been incredible here, we really had a good time," Raymundo said. "We enjoyed ourselves here a lot. I really hope that we were able to give our kababayans the excitement they were looking for, because that's what this visit really meant for us. We will be looking forward to coming back to Bahrain if the opportunity arises."

Raymundo, who is one of two of the Giants' Philippine national team members along with Yap, led the winners with 15 points. Also scoring in double figures were Simon with 14, and Yap with 12.

The other players to get on the score sheet were Roger Yap with nine points, Richard Yee with eight, Marc Pingris and Rommel Adducul with five apiece, Jondan Salvador with three, and Rey Evangelista and Paul Artadi with two each. Only rookie guard Chico Lanete, who played a crucial role in the team's win over Al Ittihad the previous evening, was the only player who went scoreless for the victors.

Hala were led by young point guard Ahmed Ali, who had 18 points in the losing effort.

After the game, the team was handed the champions' trophy by Bahrain Basketball Association (BBA) vice-president Jassim Al Sindi, in the presence of Philippine Ambassador to Bahrain Eduardo Pablo Maglaya.

The awarding ceremony was followed by fans scrambling from the stands for an opportunity to take pictures with their idols.

Such was the frenzy that it took players nearly half an hour to finally get onto the team bus, which was located only 20 metres away from the court.

The Goodwill Games were organised by the BBA in cooperation with Katilingban sang mga Illonggo sa Bahrain (KIB). The Giants return to the Philippines this afternoon.