Pampanga VOB held on strong in the dying minutes to quell a scathing comeback by GGBAI Guardians to claim a well-deserved 69-65 victory in the Aspirants Division of the Nissan Cup 2016, organised by Pinoy Basketball of Qatar (PIBAQ), at Al Gharafa Training Gym over the weekend.
Even if he was already in foul trouble, Guardians top-scorer Arman Catibog single-handedly tried to stage a comeback with his all-around play with still more than three minutes to go in the game but that wasn’t enough at the end of it all.
Pampanga’s main man Charlie Herradura led an early rally in the last quarter after he pumped in five points in arrow from a perfect free throw and a basket from the rainbow territory to swiftly take a commanding 13-point edge, 61-48, still at 8:34 minutes in the game.
The Guardians slowly crawled back to narrow the deficit.
Herradura and Paul Castillo led their team with a combined 30 points while Catibog led Guardians with 13 points.
In the other games, defending champion Jireh Eagle dumped newcomer AG Qatar 89-84 to claim another convincing win. Point guard Elmer Santander was unstoppable with scoresheet-topping 26 points, while small guard Jasper Bay and forward Ryan Nolasco scored 14 points each.
Happy Journey gave 3 Stars & a Sun another heartbreaking loss, 90-76, in the match putting the losing squad in the heat of the elimination round.
The Nissan 21st Season Men’s Championship Cup of Pinoy Basketball of Qatar (PIBAQ) is presented by Ooredoo and McDonald’s Qatar. The tournament is brought by Qatar Basketball Federation and the Philippine Embassy in Qatar and co-sponsored by Alicafe, Diana Jewellery and Watches, GO Sports, Philippine Airlines, Filipino Community Center, Fraser Suites Hotel and Shuttersbug Photography.

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