IMD 'B' prevail over Nueva Ecija

DEFENCE and teamwork did it for IMD 'B' who defeated Nueva Ecija Patriot 73-65 yesterday for their first victory in the 45 years old and above category of the LBC Cup at the Brunei Basketball Association court in Batu Bersurat.

Andy Pasion topscored for IMD B with 16 points and Lito Lasarte chipped in 12 points.

Manolito Macale had a game-high 31 points for the Patriot, who also got 12 points from Elmer Lim.

Nueva Ecija Patriot started off sluggishly as they couldn't execute on offence which allowed IMD 'B' to open up an 11-2 lead midway through the opening period. However, Nueva Ecija Patriot regrouped in the final half of the first quarter to outscore their opponents 12-4 to trail 14-15 heading into the second quarter.

Both teams were equal on the boards and exchanged baskets at both ends of the floor but Nueva Ecija Patriot got a lift from Macale, who scored 14 points in the second period.

IMD' B' did well in transition by passing the ball to look for the open man to get the points but Nueva Ecija Patriot were able to adjust and eventually got the lead at 37-34 going into halftime.

IMD 'B' tried to get back on defence as Nueva Ecija Patriot relied on their fastbreaks to score. Both teams were neck and neck in search of grabbing the upperhand but Nueva Ecija Patriot remained on top 53-52 after the third stanza.

IMD 'B' put up a full court pressure defence to slow down their opponents which worked effectively. They were breaking up the long passes by Nueva Ecija Patriot which worked effectively earlier in the match for fastbreak points.

"We have lost our previous games because our opponents were younger on average. We have a team with an average age of 50 which is similar to our opponents this time so we had been practising hard for this match," said head coach Jerson Mendoza after the victory. "We tried our best and it was the teamwork and defence of the team that helped us win today (Sunday)."

In the other game, El Tigre Marshalls edged Pinoy 1st Edition 77-75 in Group A of the regular seven stars category. Romel Valmores had a game-high 26 points for El Tigre Marshalls and Armando Estoesta added 18 points. Ronald Borromeo topscored for Pinoy 1st Edition with 19 points and Mike Nuguid scored 17 points to a losing cause.

Tuesday's matches will pit Beaver Engineering against GILR Wildcats at 8.30pm in Group B and Palm Cafe against SOLD at 10pm in Group A.The Brunei Times