(MENAFN- Arab Times) AMCROC rallied from an opening quarter 6-point deficit to seal an emphatic 71-68 victory over BHR Farwaniya in the PBLK 5th season basketball conferences Friday afternoon at the Khaitan Sports Club.
Martin scored a team-high 17 points and 11 rebounds and Mina added 14 points, including a 3-pointer in the final round, as AMCROC rallied midway in the game and held off Farwaniya to clinch the 5'8" divisional win. Martin finished one-for-four in 3-pointers but wound up with a spectacular 6-for-8 in 2s to lead AMCROC to its fourth 5'8" win since entering the league a couple of months ago.
A suffocating defence, methodical offence coupled with an electrifying and raucous crowd that outdid the opposition fans in the noisemaking contest kept the entire hall ablaze. It was mostly the winning formula for the AMCROC squad as they rallied to take control of the game after a lacklustre first quarter start that left them 6 points adrift, 12-18.
"This team is one of the most together and toughest, being down never bothered us, we just kept going till we got a handle on the game", said AMCROC forward Martin".
AMCROC was jolted out of their inertia as Mina led a second quarter rampage to gnaw down his side's deficit. But Farwaniya clamped down to keep him scoreless in the opening minutes of the second quarter. AMCROC again fought their way in the battle, snatched the lead and went ahead to the end of the second round.
The AMCROC side, seeking to win the trophy in their first year of joining the conference, outshot their opponents by 47 percent to 45 from the field with their star forward Martin being held to just fifteen points on four-of-10 shooting after running into foul trouble.
BHR Farwaniya kicked off their campaign with a cold shooting display and Star Power, with an entire team coordinating effectively, raced into an early lead before ending the first quarter with a 6 point advantage.
Martin ran into foul trouble early on and was penalized for a fifth time midway through the fourth quarter but sharp-shooting forward Arrelano came off the bench and sparked an AMCROC revival as the Farwaniya side continued to widen the gap.
A Dexter Rance three-pointer, his second in the game, saw Farwaniya widen the gap to 3 points four minutes into the fourth but AMCROC stepped up their defence to regain control and, with Mina finding his range from beyond the arc, AMCROC entered the fourth with a one point lead, 68-67.
AMCROC appeared to tighten their grip on the game, De La Cruz pouring in another two-pointer and then grabbing a steal off a poor Del Rosario pass for a slam dunk to bring the breakneck game to an end with a 3-point cushion at 71-68 for AMCROC. The deafening noise in the gallery persisted to the very last second of the game as the AMCROC fans celebrated their side's win.
Earlier, Soriano led KEO Tamaraws with 24 points to erase most of a 6-point deficit in the opening minutes of their match against Baskin Robbins, beating them 65-61 in the first game. Robbins' Guevarra who finished with a game high 32 points, got hot in the third quarter of the game but could only manage a claw back of some of his side's deficit. Game finally ended 65-61 against Robbins. In the last game of the day, Kuwait Airways beat Kout Food Group 88-85.
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