By Earl Wright
JEDDAH — Underdog KFAFH (King Fahad Armed Forces Hospital) pulled a rabbit out of the hat for the second time as it scored an unbelievable 79-73 victory over fancied Lebanese community basketball team in a thrilling knockout game in the centerpiece Open Strong Division A in the 1st MoneyGram FCBL Basketball Tournament at the Sheraton Jeddah Hotel Sport Complex court.
With no bench and no big man KFAFH looked a goner against the Lebanese behemoths. But KFAFH, without veterans Tom Basa and JR Piedra in the lineup, would have none of it with the tiny guard Gilbert Cutamora leading the team to the big victory that set KFAFH up to another knockout game vs. the winner of Jeddah United and Syriana for the right to challenge waiting finalist Tamimi Brethren Braves for the championship crown.
Cutamora had a monster game, to the delight of a lean crowd that stayed for the late match, to score 26 points including 13 in the last two quarters. Cutamora was a step ahead of his defenders, driving to the hoop, cleaning up fastbreaks and sinking baskets from the perimeter, as he deservedly won Best Player of the game honors.
Veteran Jay Liam was another KFAFH player to shine on the night to finish with 17 points, as their team held a 15-point lead, 66-51, going into the last quarter.
Mark Lagria was the third Capampangan that enjoyed a big night with 12 points, while Domingo added 9 points for KFAFH which tied Jeddah United on 1-3 at the end of the round robin play.
Hamad scored 14 points of the Lebanese but no other player had double figures with guard Ahmad Keir on 9 points.
The Lebanese, despite their height, failed to dominate the shaded area as they sorely missed the services of American import Muhammad Abdulaleem, and ran out of gas trying to play catch-up against a KFAFH team with a big fighting heart.
The victory was a repeat of KFAFH’s another unbelievable effort against defending champion Syriana of coach Hassan Zeinedein whom they beat on opening day of the tournament.
Elsewhere, the knockout rounds were set for Division B and Division C, with the eliminations on the last few weeks for the remaining Divisions D, E1 and E2.
Kalmado’s Division D (Inter-Commercial Non Strong) team all but clinched its outright spot in the final, beating SACO 81-74 for its fifth straight victory.
Dharwin Dula topscored for Kalmado with 27 points and was named Best Player of the game.
Aljuf Camry nailed the No. 2 spot next to Al-Mabani in Division C by beating Falcunit 85-74.
Hanco Olive, with a game in hand, kept alive its hopes of gaining the No. 1 from Division E2 (Inter-Commercial Non Strong) with a 91-47 demolition of Casablanca Hotel.
The win put Hanco tied with idle Dania Foods at 4-1, while Casablanca, which suffered a double whammy when it also lost against KAUST 67-47, dropped to 1-5.
In other games, Tropang ALJ beat Biboy’s Catering 82-74 in Division B, Sheraton Hotel defeated Sharbatly 73-61 in E1 and Wafu Wafu downed Nesma Holding 87-82 in Division C.
MoneyGram is the main sponsor of the tournament. The minor sponsors are: Milagrosa Rice, Sky Freight Forwarders, OSN, Rimmel and Philippine Airlines.
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