SLR bucks refs, Bahrain five in goodwill series

JUFFAIR, Bahrain — Bad officiating and a near-melee failed to dampen PBA Sta. Lucia Realty’s claim of the second Bahrain-Philippines Goodwill Games title before a jampacked gallery of screaming fans and local supporters at the Juffair Dome here.

The Realtors fashioned out a 95-89 victory over Bahrain National Team, relying heavily on the suave perimeter shooting of Paolo Mendoza and Kenneth Duremdes who were voted Best Guard and Best Forward of the finals, respectively.

The Realtors zoomed to an early 11-4 lead, but Bahrain clawed back to post an 18-17 edge in the final two minutes of the first quarter.

The 6-foot-3 Duremdes, one of the most sought-after for autographs here, thrilled the crowd with his deadly treys, drilling five triples of his 30-point output–in the first half to pace the Realtors’ campaign.

But Bahrain boasted of an equally aggressive offense lead by three-point specialist Mohammed Gholuom who topscored with 26 points.

Things got intense at the start of the third canto as the game became more physical and bad calls started to reap boos from the gallery and had SLR coach Alfrancis Chua barking complains to the technical committee table more than twice.

Bahrain was on the lead, 58-52, 6:51 remaining when Mohammed Abdul Rasool and Marlou Aquino clashed in center court, traded punches and nearly triggered a free-for-all.

Mineral water bottles rained the court as games and team officials tried to pacify the players and the crowd, resulting to 10 minute-suspension of play.

Both Aquino and Rasool were ejected from the game with the latter being taken to Salmaniya Hospital for treatment of slight face injury.

The air crackled with tension as game resumed with Nelbert Omolon and Mendoza taking turns in puncturing the hoops to snatch the lead back and finish the third frame at 76-71.

The Realtors did not look back from there as Mendoza, voted as most valuable player of the finals, slowly zipped Sta. Lucia’s claim to the title with each flick of his wrist from the arc with aplomb sending the crowd to their feet with each basket.

Mendoza finished with 25 markers, with Dennis Espino–voted as the finals’ Best Center and Nelbert Omolon chipping in 18 and 15 points, respectively.

The two-day tourney, which was presented by Power Horse Middle East also feted Arab News Pinoy Xtra and Qatar Selection in the awarding ceremonies.

Qatar downed Saudi, 78-77, via an overtime to bag the third place trophy. Both teams were represented by Filipino players working in their respective regions.