Holiday Inn Salmiya clinch FBL 4th conference inter-hotel trophy

Crowne Plaza settle for 1st runner-up

By Iddris Seidu

KUWAIT CITY, April 2: At the FBL basketball inter-hotel championships finals in Hawally Qadsia gym, Holiday Inn Salmiya scored the final point in the final second, 42-41 to walk away with the 4th conference inter-hotel trophy, denying Crowne Plaza (Holiday Inn Al Thuraya), the previous two winners of the trophy, their third win which would have earned them the grand slam.

Prats, MVP of the game scored a game-high 17 points and 13 rebounds and Domingo added 12 points, including a 3-pointer in the final round, as Holiday Inn Salmiya rallied midway in the game and held off Crowne Plaza to clinch the divisional championship trophy.

Prats finished one-for-four in 3- pointers but wound up with a spectacular 6-for-8 in 2s to lead the Salmiya-based hoteliers to its first inter-hotel championship trophy in three years.

The awards at the close of proceedings wound up as follows: Champion- Holiday Inn Salmiya 1st Runner Up- Crowne Plaza (Holiday Inn Al Thuraya) 2nd Runner Up- Movenpick Hotel 3rd Runner Up- Jumeirah Hotel Season MVP- Prats- Holiday Inn

Holiday Inn Salmiya show off their trophy

Salmiya

Mythical Five- Joe Luis Martin Pratts (Holiday Inn Salmiya), Je Salva (Holiday Inn Salmiya), Ephraim (Crowne Plaza), Phil Atong (Crowne Plaza), Capulong (Jumeirah)

An overpowering defence, methodical offence coupled with an electrifying and raucous crowd that outdid the opposition fans in the noisemaking contest. That kept the entire hall ablaze and contributed as the winning formula for the Salmiya side as they rallied to take control of the game after a lacklustre first half that left them 2 points adrift, 26-24.

“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 Holiday Inn Salmiya captain Prats”.

The Salmiya side was jolted out of their inertia as Crowne Plaza’s Atong led a second quarter rampage to put the Farwaniya based hoteliers ahead. But Salmiya clamped down to keep him scoreless in the third quarter and then fought their way to equalize in the fourth quarter, 41-41 and just when the clock counted to zero, Prats got whacked down on his way to the basket by a Crowne Plaza defender, and he was awarded a free throw which he connected to make the score 4241. Crowne Plaza contested the decision though.

The Crwone Plaza side, seeking to win the trophy for the third consecutive time, were narrowly outshot by 47 percent to 45 from the field with their star forward Atong being held to just fifteen points on four-of-10 shooting after running into foul trouble.

Earlier, in the battle for third and fourth place, Movenpick outplayed Jumeirah 58-57 to clinch the third placer of the tournament. Movenpick kicked off their campaign with a cold shooting display and Jumeirah, with an entire team coordinating effectively, raced into an early 2- point lead, 9-7 before ending the first quarter with a 16-11 advantage.

Castro and Pamatmat both ran into foul trouble early on and were penalized for a fourth time midway through the third quarter but sharp-shooting forward for Jumeirah, Paul came off the bench and sparked a revival as the Movenpick side had closed in on them and taken the lead. It took Esprito and Natividad who scored three successive points to bring the score line to 58-57 for Movenpick to clinch the third placer in the tournament.

Jumeirah Hotel Team