Jared moves to semis

GL vs Maybank on Wednesday’s do-or-die

JED Jared Truckers eliminated Monark, 81-56 to face Desmark Corporation in the semifinals of the 7th Hazard Inter-Company Friendship Basketball Games here at the NHA covered courts in brgy. Kauswagan.

In contrast, GL Autoworks stayed alive after erasing Maybank Tigers’ twiceto-beat advantage via 86-80 win to force a rubber match.

Francis Perodes and CJ Lumba led the Truckers to victory with 23 and 22 points, respectively.

Jed Jared had a sloppy start, allowing Monark to hold a 5-point lead at the end of the second quarter, 40-35.

But things went differently in the final half as the Truckers put their acts together to turn the game into a one-sided fight, even leaving Monark buried by as much as 25-point deficit.

“Wala unta sila naggamit og man-to-man defense sa third quarter ug dapat zone defense lang,” said team captain Jed Vallecer of the Truckers.

Norbel Labalan paced Monark with 25 points.

Jared and Desmark will start their best-of-3 semifinal series on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, GL Autoworks were tailing behind the Maybank Tigers bannered by Benjamin Dingal and Monchit Collera in the first three quarters of the ballgame. But big games by Roldan Flores and veteran Pit Rosales, who erupted for 27 and 28 points each, propelled the Autoworks to a come-from-behind victory.

“Bisan sa ing-ani nga edad, nakabira lang gihapon si manoy,” the 40-year-old Rosales later said.