(MENAFN- Arab Times) Salamanda scored 26 points, Manalo 22 as Yousef Power moved from 2 points down in the first quarter to win the KPBA second conference basketball Championship series, beating Desert Storm with a 6-point margin, 102-96 in the conference finals played at the Sultan Centre Sports Complex in Hawally Friday afternoon.
Esmeralda added a game-high 14 rebounds and Tao-On added 13 points, including a fast layup in the final seconds, as Power rallied midway in the game and held off Desert Storm to clinch the divisional championship trophy. Power was 5-for-eight in 3- pointers but wound up with an impressive 6-for-8 in 2s.
Al-Os who scored the final basket to power Yousef Power over Knights into the finals, finished with 15 as the determined side glided to their championship win. Yousef Power had to squeeze through the preliminary group stages in the beginning but managed to find their rhythm and produced some magical performances to top the league in a consistent fashion, mostly brushing aside challenges from heavyweights like 5R-Brothers and their ilk through the knockout rounds to finally set up a championship date with Desert Storm.
Led by majestic playmaker Salamanda, the game's top scorer at 26 points and four assists, Power unleashed a barrage of baskets to counter Storm's early high speed runs in the opening quarter that saw the side in the lead six minutes into the game on the backs of Adorador and Maralito. But Power managed to engineer a 12-6 run late in the first quarter to end with a 2-point lead, 13-11.
In the second round, Power adopted a strategy that saw Manalo and Tao-On pass the ball to each other in a goal frenzy that had their side leading 15-10 just four minutes into the second quarter.
The more athletic Desert Storm was confined to just 12 field goals from 45 attempts by an ironclad Power defence which forced their rivals to take a series of difficult long-range shots, leading to a 6 point lead, 20-14 by Power. The Desert Storm at times looked pedestrian in the first half as their captain Adorador missed three shots, with fellow guard Morales and centre Makalito pulling the strings to keep them alive in the game.
But the second half was almost a one-way traffic as Power hit top gear with four of their five players taking turns at the opposition hoop. Lethal long-range shooting hauled Yousef Power back into the game as they nailed 8 of 12 three-pointers to stretch their lead early in the second half with Salamanda fielding the final basket with a 3 pointer to hand his side the trophy at 102-96. Desert Storm content with first runner up position.
Earlier, the 5R-Brothers were handed a win with an 18-point margin, 81-63 against Gaponians who played their best. The 5R-Brothers side won all the rounds with Gaponians putting up a scintillating performance in the final round to narrow their gap but still lost the game with an 18-point margin at 81-63.
Meanwhile, Knights edged KOC, 64-59 in game two of the third conference. The Knights dominated the first three rounds of the game, 19-15, 16-14 and 20-18, but KOC clamped down in the final round with an iron clad defence and Nichoale who finished the game with 31 points, going on the offensive. Delmundo added 9 points to the Knights score sheet which showed a 9 point difference, 20-11 to hand the game to Knights by 5 points at 64-59 at the buzzer.
On the other hand in the 5'81/2" division Conference series, Taxi Slashers beat Balleros 73-67 while Beachers outpaced Bisdak 83-80 with Triggers outplaying Aquasan Gilas 69-64 to close the day.
Meanwhile, the Zumba Hip-Hop squad took to the floor for their cardio workout dancing to heavy metal music as the basketball players went on recess.
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