BULLDOGS OUTLAST FRIARS IN OT

By John Baza

It took an overtime period to decide who would emerge the victor of Tuesday night’s bout between the Okkodo Bulldogs and the visiting FD Friars, but the Bulldogs were able to come out with the hard earned 65-55 victory on their home court.

Karl Melencio and Liann Torres led the Bulldogs with 14 points apiece, while Vern “#TheVern” Gustilo and Nate Lorenzo contributed 12 and 10 points, respectively. The Friars’ Tristan Jose and Juan King lead their team offensively with 14 points each, followed by Jujuan King with 13 points in the loss.

With the Friars holding a 42-38 lead heading into the final quarter of action, the visiting Friars kept momentum running as Jujuan King connected with brother Juan King off a nice pass for the baseline shot.

Okkodo’s Karl Melencio drives the ball to the hoop and makes the difficult basket. (photo by Joey Blas)

The home team Bulldogs battled back behind a putback bucket from Nate Lorenzo and freethrows from Liann Torres, who went 4-of-4 from the charity stripe all within a span of three minutes. Okkodo reclaimed the lead after Aiden Ferrara banked in a layup halfway through the final quarter (46-45).

With time winding down, the Friars struggled to get a clear shot at the basket as the zone defense of the Bulldogs tirelessly denied their attempts to regain the lead.

With Okkodo holding the slim 50-48 lead, FD fumbled several opportunities to score until Devin Sudo took matters into his own hands, securing the ball and throwing up the floater shot that banked in with 28 seconds left to tie the game.

Okkodo’s Torres found himself at the line once again with 23 seconds remaining in the final quarter. He would go on to calmly sink in both putting the Bulldogs up 52-50. The Friars’ Jujuan King came up big in the final seconds, going baseline and getting to the rim for a clutch layup that would send the game into OT.

The Bulldogs’ Karl Melencio wasted no time as he swished a three pointer from the wing followed by a free throw on the ensuing play to put the home team up by four points (56-52) within the first minute of overtime play. Melencio also recorded two key blocks before fouling out with 1:25 left.

FD’s Jujuan King dribbles past three defenders and goes up and banks it in. (photo by Joey Blas)

Okkodo’s Christian Acosta contributed 4 points in the OT period, hitting a clutch layup followed by two freethrows with time winding down to make the score 60-52.

FD saw signs of life as Juan King converted on an “and-one” play with 42 seconds remaining (60-55), but a Gustilo steal and layup killed momentum for the Friars as the Bulldogs outscored the Friars 13-3 in the OT to capture the win.

Lorenzo was not the leading scorer for the game, but contributed a well-rounded performance on both ends of the court. Lorenzo along with teammate Austin Blaz set the tone in the first half getting key steals and making hustle plays to help their team maintain a 35-31 lead going into the second half.

“Coach makes us run hard before every game and helps us to man up, so I just play hard and give it all that I got,” said the humble Lorenzo on his performance tonight.

With the win, Okkodo improves to 5-4 while the Friars drop their second straight game to move to 6-2.

Other Scores

GW 49, St. Paul 45
St.John’s 61, ND 54
Sanchez 46, Guam High 44
JFK 70, Tiyan 32

PHOTO GALLERY BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

FD’s Devin Sudo drills a three-pointer from behind the arch. (photo by Joey Blas)

Okkodo’s Liann Torres dribbles down the baseline and banks in a shot for two points. (photo by Joey Blas)

Okkodo’s Vern Gustilo goes up and double clutches the ball and makes the reverse layup. ( photo by Joey Blas)

Okkodo’s Christian Acosta battles for the rebound for a tip in. (photo by Joey Blas)

FD’s Tristan Jose finds a hole inside the paint and makes the finger roll. (photo by Joey Blas)

Okkodo’s Nate Lorenzo makes a nice crossover dribble to get away from the defender. (photo by Joey Blas)

FD’s Josh Paulino dribbles to the baseline past a defender and makes a nice pass in the paint for the assist. (photo by Joey Blas)

Okkodo and FD players battle for the loose ball in overtime. (photo by Joey Blas)

Okkodo’s Karl Melencio drills a three pointer in overtime to go up six points. (photo by Joey Blas)

FD’s Juan King dribbles to the hoop past a defender and makes the back shot. (photo by Joey Blas)