By Jay Leon Guerrero
The 2017 Summer Jam Basketball Tournament is just weeks away from the playoffs after a round of pool play in the youth, co-ed and open division. The co-ed division pool A held games Thursday evening at the Tamuning gym with the Falcons overcoming a 10 point deficit in the second half to defeat the Typhoons I team 49-39. The Falcons improve to 3-2 in Pool A, the Typhoons I drop to 1-4.
Both teams looked sloppy to start off the contest with the score 7-7 with just 12 minutes into the first half. Brian Tsuji, Lori Okada and Roy Kerr all score in the paint for the Typhoons as they went on a late run to go ahead 16-11 with 10 seconds left before the half. The Falcons’ Gerard Chargualaf scored before the buzzer for the Falcons as they trailed 16-13 by halftime.
The Typhoons came out aggressively to start the second half with Brian Kami swishing a 3-pointer followed by a pair of baskets by Spencer Steffy to go up by 10 points, leading 23-13. The Falcons had no flow in their offense and needed someone to step up. Glen Gogue and Paul McCarrel gladly stepped in to that role.
Gogue netted a three-pointer and McCarrel started to knock down some mid-range transition jumpers as the Falcons quickly cut the deficit to two points. Three minutes later, Chargualaf ties the contest at 29-29 after he went coast-to-coast for an easy two to force the Typhoons to regroup and call a timeout with 10 minutes left in regulation.
The Falcons continued to roll on offense with Joel Paras capturing the lead for the Falcons sinking a runner in the paint to go ahead 31-29. Cisco Uncangco scored in the paint and Gogue hit another 3-pointer as the Falcons found themselves up 38-30.
The Typhoons were in desperation mode with under three minutes to play. Elmer Santos made two quick threes for the Typhoons to cut the lead to four points, trailing 36-40. But the experience and patience from the Falcons helped them seal the victory Chargualaf and Gogue both playing smart basketball down the stretch to get wide open looks to go ahead 46-36, ending any hopes of a Typhoon comeback. The final score was 49-39 in favor of the Falcons; Gogue scored 13 points, McCarrel had 12 and six rebounds and Chargualaf scored 11 points and six rebounds for the Falcons.
Santos led all scorers with 15 points, Tsuji had 10 points and eight rebounds for the Typhoons. Steffy had six points and six rebounds, Kerr grabbed a game high 10 rebounds for the Typhoons.
The Falcons improve to 3-2 in Pool A, but remain in fourth place. Custom Fitness improved to 4-2 with a victory earlier in the evening over ASC Trust Corp 63-56. Brian Romero led all scorers 24 points, Matt Leon Guerrero chipped in 10 points. ASC Trust falls to 1-4. Diversity defeated Team South West 73-48 to improve to 3-1 in the division to remain second. Rassal Mandapat and John Oqueno each scored 15 points for Diversity. Vince Espinal led all scorers with 16 points for Team South West. Team South West also drops to a 1-4 record. The Crusaders, who did not play on Thursday, are in first place in the pool with a 5-1 record.
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Frank ‘The Crank’ Camacho was a competitive youth golfer in Saipan with dreams of making it to the PGA.
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(AP/Carlos Osorio)
