The J-Art Sports Shop bested the highly-favored AC Sports but had to go through a five-minute extension before scraping through a 96-87 win in the 9th Guadalupe Athletic Association (GAA) Founder’s Cup basketball tournament at the Guadalupe Sports Complex.
AC Sports was staring at victory with an 84-81 lead in the closing seconds of the regulation period, but J-Art Sports small forward Oliver Barrios sank a crucial triple to knot the count at 84-all, thus, sending the game into overtime.
In the extra period, J-Art owner John Lloyd “Jimbo” Noel and Jun Felicitas showed indefatigable fighting spirit as they presided over a searing 14-3 run that broke the backs of AC Sports.
Noel scattered a game-high 34 points, while Felicitas finished with 20 markers as J-Art notched its second straight win in as many games. Yokyok Alesna and Barrios had 15 chipped in 31 points combined.
Serge Cortes and James Monternel scored 18 points apiece for AC Sports.
The scores
J-Art (96) - Noel 34, Felicitas 20, Alesna 16, Barrios 15, Tensio 5, Caliso 2, Tablada 2, Rosales 2
AC Sports (87) - Cortes 18, Monternel 18, Escuyos 14, Ibo 13, Ancot 7, Rances 6, Bacalla 4, Lopez 3, Suzara 2, Baba 2 (GGM)