KUWAIT CITY, June 23: Ian Depoco’s 39-point haul powered Pinoy Kuwait to an 88-75 victory over Tropaks Friday at the ongoing Filipino Basketball League (FBL) conference games at the Nasser Sport Club near Hasawi. Shooters also chalked a 78-53 win against Titans while the game between Marina Volts and Supreme had to be stopped in the third quarter due to a brawl. Depoco’s long 3-pointer sling signaled the start of a long battle for honors pitting his side, Pinoy Kuwait against the Tropaks team. Faustino Allan also opened Tropaks’ scoring with a 3-pointer of his own in reply to Depoco’s as hostilities got underway with fans for both sides drowning the hall with cheers for their teams. Both sides had not fared well in their previous encounters. Depoco, Pinoy’s talisman player and best of the game, dealt the opposition ring the heaviest pounding, scoring 39, almost half of his team’s total points. Joseph Vargas, the cliffhanger shooter, pitched the scoring higher by 14 points.

The Pinoys dominated scoring in every quarter as the baskets seared with shots and counter shots with Tropaks closely trailing, 24-20, 39-29, 64-51 and 88-75. A series of one-point shots by the Pinoys in the dying seconds of the match, answered neck-to-neck by Tropaks kept the game alive, bringing fans to the edges of their seats.
As Tropaks played under heavy pressure from their fans, the Pinoys held their nerves to finish off in style at 88-75, their fans getting rapturous at the sound of the buzzer. Allan shot a respectable 21 markers with Marvin, Angelo and Padulon chipping in 9, 8 and 7 points apiece for the defeated Tropaks squad.
The second game between the Shooters and the Titans mirrored that of the preceding match and left the crowd struggling to catch their breath in excitement and suspense as they watched the two squads hanging to each other’s coattails. Colado opened scoring for the Titans, first with a 2-pointer then quickly followed up with another 3-pointer to put some fear into the Shooters’ camp.

It was nip-and-tuck between the two squads as they took turns at the hoops, with Diego Recondo leading scoring for the Shooters to end the first quarter 21-13 on the combined efforts of team mates, Allan Yap, Guiwa, Tervez and Perdido.
The Shooters gave the lowly Titans squad a thorough spanking, demolishing the latter’s highly vaunted offense with a crippling defense that stopped Colados, Titans’ offensive machine, in his tracks each time he barreled his way inside in an attempt to score.
Colados, after his initial charge into opposition turf to pound in some points, failed to crack the Shooters’ defense. On occasions he managed to find his way inside, he got smothered — literally blocked, a number of times, an intimidating factor that led to his teammates to settle for other options rather than attempt a similar adventure.

So dominant was the Shooters defense that Titans managed just 24 points in the first half as against 37 for the Shooters. Shooters who made the most of every opportunity they had at the 15-ft line, continued the pressure in the third period before easing up in the homestretch to allow their opponent to buy a few baskets to reduce the gap at the buzzer.
Diego Recondo, best player of the game, led Shooters in the win with 21, Yap 12 and Guiwa 10. No Titan finished in double figures, Colado leading the balanced scoring with 9, Barrios 8, Soriano and Camacho 5 each with the rest spread among their teammates.
The two best players of the game, Ian Depoco of Pinoy Kuwait and Diego Recondo of the Shooters, received awards in the form of vouchers donated by Giordano Fashions. Demos Arienda, FBL President did the presentations.

Game three of the Open Division got underway with Marina Volts going head to head with Supreme. The Supremes, starring Sabino, Sylvester, Guevara and Bosito jumped the gun on the Volts, racing to a 27-17 lead in the first quarter and maintained the pressure to raise the score to 52-36 at halftime. Volts’ attempts to strike back in round three through their offense duo Ali Gomez and Villareal was met with a stifling defense that stymied their coordinated effort. The round ended 70-57 for Supremes.
The game was halted at that point due to some arguments that erupted between the two opposing sides that resulted in all players from both sides pouring into the court with some of the players on both sides conducting themselves in manners not deemed sportsmanlike. In evoking by-laws of the tournament, the FBL management announced an indefinite suspension of both teams from the tournament.

In an unrelated development, FBL management have decided to allocate part of their playtime at the court to their compatriots, the Filipino Badminton Association of Kuwait (FILBACK) who have been displaced from their Badminton court which is under renovation. Throughout the period of the renovation, FBL will play fewer games to enable their Badminton colleagues some space on the court.
The FBL Conference Basketball Tournament games under the management of Demos Arienda and his hardworking team of officials are made possible courtesy generous sponsorship from Jollibee, Giordano Fashions and LBC.