POSTED BY: Eurobasket Center
ACTION in the 2005-2006 Inter-Government Basketball League resumes tonight with four teams fighting for the two semis berths at the Gilbert C. Ada Gym.
The DPS Enforcers take on the Public School System in the first playoff game at 6:30 p.m., while No Zone and the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs collide in the second game at 8 p.m. for the fourth and last semis slot.
Tinian and last year’s runnerup Labor are already in the Final four after ending the regular season in the top two spots.
Tinian took the pennant sweeping its last nine games and finishing the regular season with an 11-2 slate. Labor also had an 11-2 record, but was relegated to the No. 2 spot as Tinian won over the San Antonio-based squad in the regular season.
The defending champion No Zone and the Enforcers are slightly favored in the playoffs having beaten their respective foes in the regular season.
On April 7, the Enforcers whipped PSS, 95-80 to end the regular season with a 10-3 record.
No Zone also had a 10-3 slate with its last win coming from DCCA on April 5, 102-72.
Peter Camacho, Joe Ito and Ben Pelisamen are expected to lead the Enforcers against PSS, as the trio was instrumental in the team’s victory against PSS.
Camacho had a game-high 29 points against PSS, while Ito and Pelisamen added 15 points apiece.
Taj Van Buren will be a marked man for PSS as he is averaging more than 20 points a game this season and is deadly in the the 3-point area. Against the Enforcers, Van Buren scored 27 points and had four triples.
Van Buren hopes to get help from Gary Lashley, Peter Mendiola and Lawrence Buniag, who also nailed double figures in PSS’s loss to the Enforcers.
As for No Zone, Ed Diaz, who is among the top 10 scorers in the league averaging close to 26 points a game, is expected to lead the defending champion closer to a return trip to the finals.
Diaz had 25 points in No Zone’s win against DCCA. Gunner John Sablan was the top scorer in that victory firing 38 points and connecting on seven triples.
DCCA is hoping a healthy Elias Rangamar will show up in the crucial playoff game. Rangamar is nursing a groin injury, which he got when the team played against NMC Proa on April 3.
Despite his injury, Rangamar scored 17 points in their loss against No Zone. He had 45 markers against NMC. Rangamar did not play in DCCA’s 90-120 defeat by Tinian last Friday.
DCCA lost its last two games prior to the playoffs and ended the regular season with a 9-4 record.
The winner of the Enforcers-PSS match will meet Labor for the second finals berth this Wednesday at 8 p.m. The victor of No Zone-DCCA tiff will square off with Tinian for the first finals slot at 6:30 p.m.
The championship will be a best-of-three affair and will begin on April 24.
(Courtesy of Variety News)
