Photo by Noel Evano

It was a grind it out type of game in FAANT Basketball League championship that showcased the league’s top two teams battle it out for the top prize in the Marrara Indoor Stadium. Max Car Care jumped out to a great start with a 12 to 6 lead over Garam Masala at the end of the first quarter with Aldin Moday netting 10 points of the teams 12. But Garam Masala tightened up the defence and only allowed Max Car Care 4 points in the second quarter and ending the first half with 16 to 12 deficit. In the third quarter Garam Masala came out with a 13 to 8 run thanks to the efforts of Travis Ellis and ended the third period in front by 1 point with 24 to 25 on the score board. The fourth quarter was tightly contested and had a few lead changes and showed the scores tied at 30 points apiece with under 2 minutes left on the clock. But the defensive efforts of Garam Masala and their ability to hit freethrows down the stretch helped them secure a 36 to 32 win over Max Car Care.  Aldrin Moday was the leading scorer of the game with 15 points and he was supported by Mark Hill with 8 points for Max Car Care. Travis Ellis was the leading scorer for Garam Masala with 11 points and Michael Opara also chipped in with 9 points. Michael Opara also took out this season’s Most Valuable Player honors with 118 points in 9 games played averaging 13.1 points per game going into the Grand Finals. In the Third Place game All Skills defeated Pizza King 79 to 60, Dominik Stopyra lead the scoring for All Skills with 19 point and Emerson Nieva top scored for Pizza King with 19 points.