RIYADH – Al-Jomaih clinched its first victory against Samaco in the Inter-Automotive Division of the Juffali Basketball League concluded another exciting highlight during the weekend here. The winner which trailed initially (23-26) retaliated with 19 points in the second quarter, 49-30. In the third canto, the winner added 20 more points against only 3 of the loser ending third quarter 70-33. In the last leg, still the loser could not penetrate the Jomaih's strong defense and surrendered helplessly at 93-70. Borlongan was applauded with his high scoring output of 34 points and Torres had 18. In the loser's side, Las Pinas sank half of their total score – 35 points. In the Inter-Company Division, Pizza Inn also claimed its first victory at the expense of Al-Hukaime, 80-57. It was also a one-sided match. The loser was one point behind in the second canto but its poor defense in the third quarter resulted in a 21-point deficit (43-64). Due to the great momentum on the winner's side, Hukaime failed to reduce the lead. Ringor fired the highest score (24) for Pizza Inn followed by Fernandez (17), Barbosa (16), and Juvan (11). For the loser, Wenceslao had the highest of 15 and Carriaga 13. In another game in the same division, Panda claimed its first win against Saudi Lebanese-Tarouk, 105-91. Team Panda swept all the legs from first to last, 25-18, 52-36, 82-60 and 105-91. It was a sorry loss for Tarouk. Ventos led the scoring for Panda (19) while Antonio, Morales and Manalo had 16 apiece. For the loser Rosette led with 25, followed by Barral (24), Alberto (15) and Punzalan (12). In the Inter-Department Division, Al-Wallan-Hyundai snatched its first victory from Maybach, 93-89 in the last leg of the game. The winning team swept two quarters, 31-19 and 53-38, but Mayback recovered with 72-66 advantage in the third that rattled the winner. With perfect defense and fast breaks Hyundai then succeeded. Garibay topped the scores with 30. He was followed by Salazar (19), Mercader (18) and Jimenez (14). For the loser, Gragasin and Lisondra had a towering 28 points each. This event is sponsored Mercedes-Benz, JIPCO, Western Union, The Filipino Dentists Group of Saudi Arabia, Laguna Lakers Cargo Forwarders, WRJ Freight Forwarders, Merex Forwarders, Pepsi Cola and ABS-CBN. It is organized and hosted by E.A. Juffali & Brothers.The Saudi Arabia Basketball Referees Association (SABRA) is handling the officiating. – SG
