FD ALUMNI: 2006 RECOVERS FROM FIRST LOSS

By Jeff Ochavillo

The FD Jungle continued to have its court rocking as the annual Alumni Tournament finished its third day of action all day Saturday. One of the closer games of the day was a friendly rivalry between the Class of 2006 and Class of 2005, as ’06 came back with a win after receiving their first lost in the opener against ’03.

2006 – 57, 2005 – 46

After receiving their first loss in three years in the Alumni Tournament in the opening night, the Class of 2006 countered back by getting a 57-46 win over their older sibling class, ’05.

’05 seemed to have their game under control by shutting down the quick offense of  ’06 by only keeping their dangerous scorer Julius Yu with just two points in the first minutes of the game. However, as the game progressed 2006 used a 6-0 run with the help of TJ Balajadia tying the game at 10, who was a big factor in their win tonight.

2005’s Duane Sablan hits a deep three early against 2006. (photo by Robert Balajadia)

Off a steal from ’06’s AJ Reyes in the first half, the defending champs broke out on a fast break that sent Balajadia to the free throw line to knock down 2 free throws to give them their first lead of the night at 12-10. They did not stop there as they closed out the half with Thomas Rojas and Reyes hitting layups and the deep ball down the stretch. The half ended with another Balajadia trip to the line after being fouled in the act of shooting in the last seconds of the half to make the score 24-16.

’05 was able to gain back their lead in the 2nd half from big man Neil Espino who scored nine straight points to cut the lead 30-31, followed by a hook shot by Joe Santos to put them up 33-30 with 12 minutes left in the game.

’05 had trouble taking care of the ball late committing costly turnovers giving ‘06 plenty of steals in transition by the combined pressure of Yu and Reyes to give them a 50-42 lead. In addition to good defense, Yu and Balajadia were able to score in transition by knocking down a series of jumpers.

’06 sealed the win over their older class with Yu leading all scorers with 27 points and TJ Balajadia coming behind with 16. ‘05’s Neil Espino was the high man for his squad with a total of 23 points to kept his team close behind throughout the game.

1999 – 63, 85/86/87 – 44,

After committing many turnovers in the 1st half, ‘99 was able to get out of their slump and  take complete control of ’85-’87 with a 23-0 run going up 32-9 with the help of Richard Reyes contributing on both ends of the floor and Matt Acda using his range to knocking down the three ball jumpers in transition.

Since then, the closest ’85-87 had gotten to striking distance was 16 with the help of Bill M., draining three three-pointers to cut down their deficit, but it was not enough to get close to getting a comeback.

Will Valencia and Richard Reyes led ’99 with 15 points while Bill M. got a game high of 16 points to lead ’85-87.

Check out all the days action on the FD Alumni Scoreboard.

PHOTO GALLERY:

In the early game, 2010 survived a late comeback against 2007. (photo by Robert Balajadia)

2005’s big man Gavin Diego crashes the offensive board and gets fouled on the put back. (photo by Robert Balajadia)

(photo by Robert Balajadia)

1999’s Johnny Holbrom finishes the fast break layup. (photo by Robert Balajadia)

(photo by Robert Balajadia)