The Express didn’t disappoint.
Doing what no other team has achieved for the past 11 years, the FedEx Express blemished the immaculate reign of Bahrain champion Manama with a swashbuckling 86-70 victory in the Philippines-Bahrain Friendship Basketball Series in the jampacked Juffair Stadium yesterday.
Vergel Meneses, FedEx’s current scoring leader, and Ren-Ren Ritualo, around whom the destiny of the team rises or falls, combined perfectly in a magical first-half offensive assault never before seen on Bahraini soil.
Meneses wowed the capacity crowd with 10 first quarter points, including his patented, acrobatic reverse layup that brought the house down and enabled the Express to seize the upperhand at 22-18.
When the champions made their move with 6-foot-10 import Marvin Wilson and the ABC veteran sibling pair Mohammed and Nooh Najaf doing damage down low to grab the lead at 36-32, Ritualo bombed the Bahrainis with five straight baskets, four of them from three-point land, to squeeze the momentum out of their foes.
Ritualo’s back-breaking triples in a 15-point second quarter performance brought control back to the Express at 45-40. The Filipinos were never threatened from there.
In the end, not even the foul trouble by the Filipinos, who were slapped a total of 28 incursions to the Bahrainis’ mere six, plus the monster game of Wilson, who banged in 21 markers, could sway the tide in favor of Manama, which for more than a decade butchered visiting teams with their tough, swarming game.
Team manager and Air21 Chairman Lito Alvarez was ecstatic after delegation head Bonnie Garcia and Jojo Lavina informed him at dawn on Saturday about the FedEx’s triumphant Bahrain sojourn.
"Mr. Bert Lina and Air21 management are deeply proud not just of this achievement, but because our FedEx team has humbly brought cheers to the close to 35,000 overseas Filipino workers in that kingdom. If only for that, the trip was well worth it," said Alvarez.
Coach Derrick Pumaren said the Bahrain journey was part of the team’s preparations for the coming Mabuhay Cup, where the Express qualified after finishing in the top four of the All-Filipino Cup.
"We’re slowly getting to where I want this team to be. The games here have tremendously helped the team in terms of playing the international brand of basketball," said Pumaren, who is assisted by deputies Gee Abanilla and Jun Tiongco.
Other members of the team are Jerry Codinera, Yancy de Ocampo, Wynne Arboleda, Gherome Ejercito, Egay Billones, Roger Yap, Marvin Ortiguera, John Ferriols, Omanzie Rodriguez and Danilo Capobres. Only Ryan Bernardo did not suit up.
The goodwill games were organized by the Bahrain Basketball Association and Malta Adprom, headed by Baby and Kristina Fulgencio.
Other members of the FedEx delegation are trainor Dan Rose, physical therapist Kenneth Dichoso and liaison officer Jonjie Madrilejo.