News

Metito banked on their explosive outside shooting and employed stonewall defence to beat Indus Blades, 86-72, and claim the Championship trophy in the Class C Division of the inaugural Pinoy Expat Basketball Club at the Al Shabab Sports Club.

The Best of 3 Finals extended to Game 3 when Indus Blades claimed Game 2 by nine points after Metito had won Game 1 by four points.

Metito started the match with a two-point lead after the first quarter, 18-16, but momentum shifted to Indus Blades in the second quarter after Apol Lucero converted a 3-point shot which put the Blades on top, 38-36, before half time break.

Indus, enjoying height advantage over Metito, continued to dominate the paint in the first two minutes of the third quarter and padded their lead, 48-43. The five-point spread, however, was the last time Indus enjoyed the advantage as Metito coach Ivan Chua adjusted with their trapping defence while Most Valuable Player awardee Marvin Gutierrez, Val Ituralde and Bimbo Novio joined hands firing from the perimeter.

Metito made five triples – three from Ituralde and one each from Novio and Montecillo – in the third quarter and they enjoyed a double-digit lead, 65-55, entering the final canto.

Indus Blades applied double-team defence on Ituralde in the fourth quarter which only left Gutierrez wide open for easy shots. Gutierrez, who led all scorers with 24 points, took the scoring cudgels for Metito in the fourth quarter and gave his team 17-point lead, 80-63, going into the last two minutes.

“This is a sweet victory for us. We just applied the same strategy we used in Game 1 which enabled us to dictate the tempo of the final match. We countered their (Indus Blades) height advantage with our speed and perimetre shooting,” Metito coach Ivan Chua told Sport360°.

Individual Awards: Most Valuable Player – Marvin Gutierrez
Dream Team: Best Centre – Joni Paran; Best Guards – Val Ituralde and Apol Lucero; Best Forwards – Dan Caringal and Marvin Gutierrez