The H Hotel and Emaar Hospitality Group bounced back from defeats to trounce their respective opponents in Synergy Sports’ Inter-Hotel Basketball Tournament at Jumeira Baccalaureate School on Friday.
The H Hotel, who previously lost to Mövenpick Hotel Ibn Battuta Gate, dominated Sofitel The Palm, Dubai 58-50; while Emaar trashed Raffles Dubai 101-61 to avenge their 25-point loss to Conrad Hotel.
The H Hotel had a slim two-point lead, 16-14, at the end of the first period after Cedric Calusin converted a rare four-point play and it also set the tone for their huge rally in the next quarter.
Calusin sunk two more triples while Cabanlit and Charles Ferrer added a triple each in the second frame as H Hotel stretched their lead to 15, 37-22, at the turn.
The second half was purely about H Hotel managing their lead and they did not encounter much resistance as Sofitel’s defence fizzled out.
Calusin top-scored for The H Hotel with 17 points, followed by Roel Bernardo with 16 while Cabanlit and Monte Negrin player Nedim Medonjanin added eight markers each.
“The victory was really sweet because we did not want to start the tournament with two straight losses,” player-coach Ricky Cabanlit told Sport3600.
Meanwhile, Rontgen Abando scored 14 straight points in Emaar’s dizzying second quarter run to kick-start their 40-point win over Raffles Dubai.
The scores were tied at 22-all at the end of the first quarter but Emaar pulled away with a 30-9 outburst in the second frame courtesy of fastbreak plays anchored by Abando.
Emaar maintained their lead in the third quarter and made another strong run in the final quarter.
Team manager Mohannad Zarrouq said: “We’re happy to bounce back from a sorry loss and came out strong with a very big win. It’s a huge morale booster for the team and this proves that we are serious contenders to win the Cup.”
Elsewhere, Atlantis The Palm, Dubai and Conrad Dubai trashed their respective opponents to register their second straight wins.
Kenyan centre Agrey Odhiambo registered a double-double performance (15 points and 13 rebounds) to lead Atlantis to a 58-37 victory over Mövenpick Hotel Ibn Battuta Gate while Harold Abonitalla finished with 13 points in Conrad Dubai’s 55-24 trashing of Auris Plaza Hotel.
Scorers:
The H Hotel 58 – Cedric Calusin 17; Roel Bernardo 16; Ricky Cabanlit 8; Nedim Medonjanin 8; Charles Ferrer 5; Nash Mwamba 4
Sofitel The Palm, Dubai 50 – Regie Diolazo 16; Michael Zhang 11; Carl Ladera 8; Richard Badia 7; Nelson Sy 4; Wilbert Belgica 4
