By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Team SWAT Subway and team ICPO Subway got the last laugh against their respective foes in the tagged “battle of the undefeated” during the ongoing Iloilo City Inter-Office Basketball League organized by Stanley’s Sportswear.
The SWAT Subway hoopers showed tremendous poise in the end game and tainted RBA Construction’s perfect record with a nail-biting 78-77 win during the first scheduled game of the tournament.
It was a back-and-forth affair between two heavyweight teams as they answered each other’s scoring runs that went down to the wire.
SWAT established a one-point lead at the half, 43-42, and got a huge game from Noli Trabasas who contributed 12 points, five assists, two steals, and one rebound.
Meanwhile, RBA’s Lorenzo Pillora had a game-high 19-point production but needed more help from his teammates against the stacked SWAT lineup that was consistent from the get-go down to the clutch two minutes of the game.
In the second game of the “battle of the undefeated”, the ICPO Subway banked on an efficient shooting night to fend off the ICPS I PNP, 92-77.
Amer Emboltura of the ICPO Subway squad put on a dominant show and tallied an all-around effort of 21 points, eight rebounds, three assists, and two steals in the win.
ICPO Subway was in the driver’s seat as early as the second quarter after Emboltura caught fire and helped his team clinch a 55-42 halftime lead that further ballooned in the second half.
In the other scheduled games, team LEADGEN BPO crushed team Legato BPO, 96-75, while the PSTMO got the better of the Iloilo Mission Hospital, 87-77.
Mr. Jojo Castro is the tournament consultant while the living legend Mr. Abwe Estenor is the league commissioner.
