LUCENA CITY – The host Quezon Red Oilers and Ilocos Sur Bravehearts arranged a titular showdown by beating separate foes on Day Three Friday of the Quezon Province leg of the 2009 Smart Liga Pilipinas Conference II at the Quezon Convention Center.
The Red Oilers of Gov. Raffy Nantes and coach Oliver Bunyi swept all their three preliminary round games by toying with the Iloilo Mang Inasals, 74-67.
Big men Bogs Raymundo and Kim Macanig wreaked havoc on the Mang Inasals’ defense, easily taking the first period, 19-10.
From there, it was complete domination highlighted by a steal and a lay-up by guard Rob Labagala that erected a 53-36 advantage with 2:17 left in the third period.
Two free throws by Junar Mendoza gave the Red Oilers their biggest lead late in the final period, 70-52.
Iloilo coach Jerry Jaranilla fielded his role players who managed to pare down the final deficit with a 15-4 run.
Macanig and Raymundo led the Red Oilers with similar 12 points and nine rebounds. Macanig though had four blocks compared to Raymundo’s two.
The Red Oilers became the first host team to make it to the leg finals in this conference supported by Smart, ML Kwarta Padala, Air 21, Accel, Burlington, Laptop Phoneshop, Nature’s Spring and Molten and sanctioned by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP).
“We will do our best to defend our home court and the leg championship we won last conference,” said Bunyi. “I am happy that the team is starting the conference on a winning note and hope that this continues.”
The Red Oilers are favored to win over the Bravehearts after the hosts beat the visitors last Wednesday, 87-75, in the tournament’s first day of action.
Earlier, the Bravehearts of Gov. DV Savellano and coach Gino Manuel eliminated the Zamboanga Zambos from the championship picture, 85-68. The Bravehearts finished with a 2-1 win-loss card, a game ahead of the 1-2 Zambos.
The best the Zambos could do was to tie the ball game thrice in the opening three minutes, the last time coming at 7-7. From there, the Bravehearts dominated the Zambos, stretching their lead to as high as 19 markers in the fourth period on a Nat Cruz field goal, 80-61.
Ismael Junio powered the Bravehearts with 17 points.
Edbert Ton shot a perfect four out of four from three-point distance to submit 12 points in only nine minutes of play.
The always reliable duo of Christopher Concepcion and Jonathan Parreno paced the Zambos with 15 and 14 markers respectively.