The Gilas Defenders players and team officials whoop it up after capturing the 2017 IBP Basketball League crown.
contributed
THE Gilas Defenders spoiled the grandslam bid of the Idols, routing the latter, 76-57 Saturday night to grab the championship title of the 2017 Integrated Bar of thePhilippines (IBP) Basketball League at the Capitol Parish gym.
The game was close in the first two quarters but the Gilas Defenders started pulling away in the third behind Josecor Gepolongca who scored four points in that stretch and Dwight Remedio who converted a buzzer-beater that gave the newly-crowned champs a nine-point lead, 55-46 going to the final canto.
In the fourth, the Gilas Defenders became more merciless as it buried the Idols with a 21-11 landslide for the lopsided victory.
Frank Duke Dinsay and Van Ligutan led the Gilas Defenders’ romp to the crown with 12 points apiece.
The win denied the Idols a third straight crown and gave Gilas’ Rowell Juban his first ever title in the league.
Fermin Pepito and Venju Santiago led the Idols’ losing cause as they poured 11 points each.
Compounding the Idols’ woes was the fact that sweet-shooting Lito Ortiz was limited to a forgettable four points on a night when Gilas’ James Hupp dished a career-best 12 assists. Tope Ang, the team co-owner of Gilas Defenders, also had a solid night with seven points and six rebounds. Manolette Fel Dinsay is the other co-owner of the team which is managed by Judge Kit Enriquez.
The scores:
GILAS DEFENDERS, 76 – Ligutan 12, Dinsay 12, Bas 8, Juban 7, Ang 7, Gepolongca 7, Velmonte 6, Remedio 3, Sevilla 3, Ajoc 3, Lagahit 2, Velez 2, Solis 2, Hupp 2, Guieb 2.
IDOLS, 57 – F. Pepito 11, V. Santiago 11, Capoy 10, Manubag 5, Ortiz 4, Arrabis 4, Miralles 2, Pepito 2, Malazarte 2, Yu 2, Nuñez 2, Macion 2, Marquez 2.