Diwa's 31 points lead Northern Construction to South Shooters championship title

With Dennis Geron opening the South Shooters Basketball Club championship game with a pair of long 3-pointers and big man Scott Walker dominating the defensive glass, Sphere Tech led the game 10-0 but couldn’t hold on to beat defending champion Northern Construction. After four quarters of lights-out shooting Sunday at the Agana Heights gymnasium, Northern Construction defeated Sphere Tech 77-71. “We were all prepared for this game,” said Northern Construction’s Jake Diwa. “We did our best to win this championship.” “We won because of our heart for playing basketball,” Diwa said. “Because we are the defending champion, we didn’t want to lose.” Before the first half ended, Geron drained his fourth shot from behind the arc. And with 11 of teammate Charlie Bombase’s 22 points scored in the first half, off of baseline jump shots and powerful drives to the hoop, Sphere Tech at the half led 39-30. Back on the floor, Sphere Tech continued to dominate. On their opening possession, Walker drained his first 3-pointer. And with their largest lead of the game, a 12-point rift, Sphere Tech appeared well on their way to their first championship title. But as the third quarter wore on, Northern Construction stepped up their defense and chipped away at the lead. As the third quarter began, Northern’s Elmar Moradas and Jerry Lumungsod lit up the scoreboard and chiseled away at the lead. And with teammate Roger Malig-on doing his best to secure rebounds, no easy task especially with Walker’s frame filling up the key, Northern at the end of the third quarter trailed 53-51. “For the second half, we came back,” said Diwa, who said their coach asked them to implement a new game plan and defensive strategy. “That’s why, for the second half, we came back.” “Mr. Geron is a really good shooting guard, that’s why we had to adjust our defense for him,” added Diwa. In the first 30 minutes of the 40-minute contest, the sure-handed Sphere Tech was the aggressor, taking the ball to the hole and dropping bombs. But as the fourth quarter began, several errant, length-of-the-floor passes from Sphere Tech became turnovers and easy transition buckets. As Sphere Tech’s turnovers reached troublesome levels, Diwa scored 11 of his game-high 31 points in the frame. And, as Diwa drained 10-footers, layups, free throws and even a slam dunk, and Lumungsod swished a pair or 3-pointers, Northern’s multifaceted offense carried them to their second consecutive SSBC men’s basketball championship title. For Northern Construction, Diwa led with 31 points, Moradas – their No. 2 scoring option – finished with 18 points, and Lumungsod scored 12 points. For Sphere Tech, Geron scored a team-high 23 points, Bombase scored 22 points and Walker added 16 points to go with 21 rebounds.
Courtesy of: postguam.com