Team Malang fired a barrage of three-pointers in the opening quarter to overwhelm Al Maya Boys 64-50 and grab the Jazzville Basketball Cup at the Dubai Sports World late Monday night.
Player-coach Marvin Malang opened the game with back-to-back triples while Mythical 5 member Rodel Campos converted two more treys to give Team Malang a commanding 19-2 lead in the first five minutes of the championship game.
They continued their superb shooting in the second period and pushed their advantage to as high as 20 points, 30-10, before they slowed down a bit to take a 34-19 lead before the break.
Team Malang maintained their lead in the third quarter behind steady shooting from Season MVP James Roldan (above), Manuel Galope and Adrian Querobin.
Al Maya Boys finally found their rhythm in the final period as they trimmed the deficit to a single digit, 54-46.
But the game was never in question for Team Malang who were not unnerved by Al Maya Boys’ rally as Campos hit another triple to give his team an 11-point cushion, 57-46, going into the final two minutes of the game.
Then Final MVP Joel Urbano, who led all players with 15 points, added another basket and made two free throws to completely dash the hopes of Al Maya Boys to get back into the game and secure the Cup for Team Malang.
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“Our team has been together for quite a long time so whenever we’re on the floor we always have a smooth game,” Team Malang coach Marvin Malang told Sport360. “Al Maya Boys rallied in the fourth quarter but we were never really pressured, we played calm, as time was already running out.”
Al Maya Boys coach Gary Gabriel for his part said: “We were caught flat-footed in the first quarter. They (Team Malang) rained us with triples and they built a huge lead that we just could not overcome.”
Awards
Season MVP – James Roldan
Final MVP – Joel Urbano
Mythical 5 – Rodel Campos, Jon Lumbres, Marlon Pelone, Ron Jacob, JR Gavero
Best Coach – Marvin Malang
Scores:
Team Malang 64 – Joel Urbano 15; James Roldan 12; Rodel Campos 12; Marvin Malang 10; Manuel Galope 5; Adrian Querobin 5; Dave Tiglao 5
Al Maya Boys 50 – Carlo Catunggal 14; Jon Lumbres 10; Renan Alipio 10; JR Gavero 8; Dhen Lora 2; Malalay 2; Marlon Pelone 2; Tom Sumayo 2
