RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, October 24, 2000 – The Olaya Palace and NaRS
(men in nursing) of Ruth Cordero won over their respective rivals El Seif Engineering and
LM Ericsson in contrasting style as the action continues in full swing in the elimination
round of the Inter Company Division at the 3 in 1 Fila Millennium Basketball Challenge
festival 2000, being hosted by Sheraton Riyadh hotel and towers.
It was Arciaga first basket for Olaya that signaled the start of a fast action from both
the teams. Thereafter, it was a seesaw tussle in the first half till Ulysses Tenoso of El
Seif made two successive baskets in the last two minutes, which made the difference, and
they ended in a leading position in the first half with score standing at 38-32.
At the start of the second half, the victors Juanito Payumo, Kram and Edwin Dela Cruz took
control from the word go and they not only equalized the lead but took their team ahead as
well. For the opponents Ariel Olmedo, R. Jovista and Melvin Castillo got through the
strong defense applied by Olaya boys on few occasions but this was not enough and Olaya
won 81-69 to the delight of their fans. In their earlier match, Olaya defeated Saudi Media
System by 82-74. Here, Cruz of the winning side scored 24 points.
NaRS coached by veteran and champion maker Noel Santos won both of their matches over the
weekend. First, they scored surprising win over the Ericsson by 82-64 thanks to Acierto
who scored 18 points. In their second encounter, they dislodged TFC (ABS-CBN) playing
without their power play rebounder Masumbal brothers. Ligan of NaRS was their hero,
scoring valuable 18 points.
For the 13th Riyadh Annual Inter Hotels crown, jam packed crowd witnessed an
exciting game in the third round of the semifinals between Al Khozama and the host
Sheraton Towers. The former won with thumping 86-71 verdict.
Francis Aquino top scored with 28 and was backed up by Jojo Bulan with his 27 points,
despite of his only 65% conversion at the fifteen foot line for a free-throw. It was
another tense seesaw battle that saw both teams trying their best to dominate the board as
the first half ended 33-32 in favor of Khozama.
The Sheraton boys were playing a good game but some of them were off target, as their
stalwart Rex Capati who has just recovered from flu could not cope up with the towering
heights of Bulan and Aquino. Furthermore, there were some lapses, which irritated coach
Jess Lumanog as they not only lost control but the game as well.
The 3-in-1 Fila Millennium Basketball Challenge 2000 is being sponsored by Sodas Sports
– the sole distributor of Fila sportswear in the Kingdom courtesy of Mumen Al Garawi
with support coming from Pepsi Cola, Philippine Airlines and Power Horse Energy Drink. It
is organized by Riyadh Inter-hotels Sports Committee.
It is fully backed by Thomas Boesch, executive assistant manager with patronage of Michael
Wegner, general manager of the hotel. The management believes that by providing and
supporting the staff sports activities, Sheraton also helps and develops awareness of
friendship and camaraderie as well as entertainment among the expatriate workers not only
in the hotel industry but also to other companies in the surrounding communities. |
