Alvin’s, Fueled Wings draw first blood in ICBC semifinals

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Team Alvin’s Fitness Center and the Fueled Wings squad opened their respective 2022 Iloilo City Basketball Club (ICBC) second conference semifinal campaign with huge wins.

The rolling Alvin’s squad got the better of team Selecta, 72-56, while Fueled Wings dominated the Big Roys by Robejes Wonders, 88-67.

It was a wire-to-wire victory for team Alvin’s after refusing to give up the lead that they built as early as the first quarter.

The duo of Ken Deniega and Jason Ong struck early for team Alvin’s as the one-two punch immediately electrified their offense that set the tempo of the game.

Aside from Deniega and Ong’s stellar shooting night, Alvin’s balanced scoring attack and tremendous help defense in the paint summed up their impressive Game 1 win.

Selecta attempted to change gears and pounded the ball more often in the paint but quick counter runs from team Alvin’s prevented them from trimming the lead to single digits in the last quarter.

Team Alvin’s had its biggest lead at 32 points and went unconscious from the shooting field in the most needed times of the second half.

Meanwhile, in the other scheduled semis game, team Fueled Wings handed Big Roys a disappointing double-digit loss.

The same scenario during the first game, the Fueled Wings squad led from the get-go and banked on their waxing-hot offense from the three-point line.

Ron Cambas, Edmund Yudelmo, and Arjo Robledo were too much for Big Roys as the trio combined for 55 big points out of their 88 produced.

The Motech Player of the Game went to Cambas who top-scored his team with 20 points followed by Yudelmo with 18 and Robledo with 17.

On the other hand, John Rey Madulin was a one-man show for team Big Roys as the savvy and veteran forward scorer dropped 24 points in a losing effort.

Selecta and Big Roys will have the chance to bounce back and even things up at 1-1 as they face Alvin’s and Fueled Wings again, respectively, on Thursday.