Hawks soar against Nusalaila Darul

Dennis Lim
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

Friday, October 28, 2011

Hua Ho Manggis take down OGS with one-point win

Sonny Bautista of Seria Hawks going for a lay-up

SERIA Hawks ensured that they would be the team flying high yesterday by successfully completing a comeback win in a last quarter scramble.

Hawks clinched a hard fought 71-68 win over Nusalaila Darul late in the last quarter of last night's FAB-Queenielin Basketball Tournament played at the Brunei Basketball Association court in Batu Bersurat.

Darul led for more than three quarters in the match but lost out when it mattered most.

Hawks' sudden surge and urgency in the final period did not go unnoticed, especially by Darul's players who responded by playing a more physical game which eventually led to the flaring of tempers and, consequently, the fouling out of two of their players

Hawks did most of their damage through Sonny Bautista and Marlo Lagdan who racked up game-highs of 15 points each while teammate Nel Acoba added another 14 points to the victory.

Rochie Manggaya of Darul scored a team-high of 14 points for the losing side while Jonel Baltazar managed to basket 11 points. Both Denver Esteban and Erik Eranes added 10 points each for their team.

Darul looked set to have the game in hand right from tip off.

They were the stronger side for most of the game, controlling the flow of the match and making good plays to score easy baskets.

Hawks, meanwhile, had a rough start, struggling with their shots against a tough Darul defense.

The first quarter ended 20-11 in favour of Darul.

Hawks would respond and put up more of a fight from the second quarter onwards, led by Ken A Cabanilla.

Cabanilla started the second quarter with a solo drive against two of Darul's players, a sight that soon became a constant in the game for the Hawks.

They were also playing sharper and threatened to cut the deficit but Baltazar wasn't going to let his team's advantage slip away so easily, answering the Hawks run with a three pointer to cool down their momentum.

At one point, the scores were at 32-19 to Darul but a Hawks timeout would work wonders for the team.

They would use their pace and athleticism to cut the deficit to 38-33 by the end of the first half.

The third quarter was pretty much a repeat of the second quarter, with Darul having the upper hand in terms of defence and offensive opportunities.

Darul's Esteban proved to be a wall for the Hawks as his stifling defence would ensure that his team maintained a 56-49 lead going into the final period.

Hawks would put their heads down and try for a charge in the fourth quarter, immediately going on a run to cut their deficit to just three points (56-53).

Darul still maintained their calm play but Hawks physical plays were proving to be too much.

The tables were now turned with Hawks seeing more success in offence while Darul struggled in defence.

A freethrow, five minutes from time, by Lagdan levelled the scores at 58 a-piece but also sparked a scramble among the two teams.

Both teams would trade leads from then until Darul's Roland Enriquez and Esteban fouled out.

Despite this, the result of the match was still anyone's guess with the score tied three times within the final minute until Acoba stepped up to convert from the charity stripe, giving Hawks a three point lead that they would nurse until the buzzer.

The second match of the night saw Hua Ho Manggis edged out OGS with a one-point 63-62 victory.

The Brunei Times