Thome Cabalan Dailies
Day 5 (morning)
Game 1 Fire vs Panthers (Group B)
Another exciting game by all standards. Both teams had not won any of their matches of the tourney so far, making this game a must win for both sides. Fire started off well with a 7-0 run in the first 4 minutes. Panthers quickly made a couple of subs which saw Patrick come in. he seemed like a super sub after dropping 4 points including a dunk on the Fire defense to help Panthers equal at 7. nobody really showed up in the game for Fire as they played quite an ordinary game and yet managed to stay in the game finishing the first quarter at 13-15 for Panthers. K.Boamah was at it again taking a lot of trips to the lane finishing with a considerable number of stylish gravity defying lay ups. It was later in the second where Nasoo stepped up at the PG and dropped a couple dimes to his players for easy buckets. The game wasn't without drama as there 17 lead changes after Fire took another lead at 33-31 to end the 2nd. It was Alhaji's 4 freethrows he dropped that put Fire in the game. Alhaji drove, was fouled by Kevin who protested by hitting the ball on the floor and drawing the T. Fire ruled the game again at 37- 33 but lost it again and Panthers closed in within 1 point. Fire started to play 1 on 1 defense getting to the end of the 3rd which held Panthers to a 14 point quarter. A not feeling so well Dela came in with fwes minutes left in the 3rd but made his presence felt by working hard on the defense. The game went on with several players on both sides making several big shots and freethrows in crunch time but it was Alhaji's 4 point play which tied the game at 74 that remains the story of the day so far. With the game tied at 74 the buzzer went off sending the game into what was the first OT of this years tourney. The over time was quite eventful, Dela throws a three to tie the game again at 77. Both teams with the intention of drawing fouls started driving the lane. Game ties again at 81. Panthers' Patrick missed a point blank dunk but Karikari got the offensive rebound and made the close range 2 pointer with tension still rising as time ran out on them again. With 27 seconds to go and the game tied again at 84 by an Alhaji 3 pointer, Panthers' captain , Vincent drives to the hoop again and was fouled....He knocked down the 2 freethrows and Panthers ruled the day.
Patrick dunks on the fire defense
Patrick dunks on the fire defenseGame 2 C.E.P.S vs Police(Group B)
From the many times I have watched CEPS play, I've never seen them coming into a game with such mental preparation and discipline as in today's match against Police. It's quite obvious they weren't impressed with their performance yesterday against the Panthers. That didn't in any way make the game easy as Police actively traded buckets in a 17-18 first quarter. The amount of talking and team play exhibited by CEPS was one that had not been seen in awhile. Police were also well composed knowing they needed a W after the L to Magic yesterday. Dodzie showed more versatility after switching to lay ups and 2 pointers after going 0 of 4 at 3 point range in the first. The entire team seemed to be have injected with some new energy as they begun to started to take control of the game. Brimah was impressive with his all round play as usual breaking down the defense and passing the rock to team mates for wide open and easy shots. Police tried as much to get back into the game but still suffered from numerous turn overs due to CEPS' tight defense. The game became another cruise for CEPS as they controlled the rest of the game ending with the highest score of the tournament so far... 93 - 72 final score!
Brimah in a power play against Police' Saddiq
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