Tournament darkhorse Aloha Maid Choppers claimed its fourth straight victory while the match between defending champion FR Spoilers and Liquid Skyy Dragons turned ugly in the third quarter as both teams had a bench clearing in the action pack resumption of the 2014 season of the Filipino Basketball League (FBL) at the Palau National gym.

The Aloha Maid Choppers, sponsored by Shimbros International, nailed their fourth win at the expense of a hard fighting Jaguars, 87-76. The Choppers orchestrated a balanced attack as they scored the come from behind victory.

Down 14-16 at the opening tip off, the choppers went to their offensive roster of Arvin Pramo, Mark Louie Lofranco, Nelson Dupalco and JR Grapa who led the scoring clutches in the second canto as the Choppers outscored the Jaguars with a 30-21 output as they closed the first half with a 44-37 lead.

From there, the Choppers would continue their shooting prowess as they opened the game wide open and went on to score the win. Pramo led the Choppers finishing the game with 21 points while Lofranco, Grapa and Dupalco added 17, 12 and 11 markers, respectively. The win improved the Choppers performance as they sport a 4-1 win-loss record.

On the other hand, Gener Aguinaldo topscored for the Jaguars with 18 as Roy Atacador and Budz Pabro chipped in 10 and 11, respectively as they slipped to 1-4 in the team standings.

Meanwhile, the second game of the day that pitted the defending champion FR Spoilers against the Liquid Skyy Dragons turned ugly when players from both teams got into a fist fight.

In the third quarter of action with 5:44 left, Dragons’ Noel Nuqui was attempting to shoot a three-point, when he and Spoiler’s point guard Aries Echanova got into a fight then players from both teams entered the court as they tried to pacify the situation. Game officials of the match namely Hamilton Maech and Jaques Stills decided slap a two game suspension for Nuqui and Echanova.

Aside from slapping the suspensions, the officials also decided to stop the game and default both teams as players from their respective benches entered the court during the fight.

In the 2010 official basketball rule book of FIBA Oceania it stated that players or team followers who leave the bench area during a fight or during any situation which may lead to a fight, shall be disqualified. Only the coach or assistant coach is permitted to leave the bench area during a fight or during any situation that may lead to a fight to assist game officials to maintain or restore order. In this situation the coach or assistant coach will not be disqualified.

In other games, the Rams finally barged their way into the winning column as they beat the PECI Spartans, 88-79 while the Royal Cargo Rangers won over the PNQ Crushers, 95-65.

Games will resume on January 12 with Hanpa Cardinals versus the Ilocandia Bulls at 11 a.m. followed by the PNQ Crushers-Jaguar tussle at 12:30 p.m. as the Aloha Maid Choppers meet the Liquid Skyy Dragons at 2 p.m. while Surangel Stars will test the Western Union in the main game at 3:30 p.m.

Sponsors for this year’s season are Aqua Pure Water, ATT Karaoke and Bar, Blue Bay Petroleum, CTSI Palau, Hanpa Industrial Development Corporation, HBO, Kumangai Bakery, Midtown Gas Station, Mingles Tototo, MJ Trading, Palasia Hotel, Palau Pacific Resort, Palau Trading, Pinoy Express Remittance, Shimbros International, Surangel and Sons, The Taj Palau, Palau Curtain, Engr. Bobby Pineda and Western Caroline Trading Company (WCTC).

The Filipino Basketball League (FBL) is under the supervision of the Palau Basketball Federation (PBF).  By Peter Erick L. Magbanua (Island Times News)