Sharks upend The Nobodies to complete first round sweep
League III.10 Elimination Round
SN Forum
It took some withstanding of a game-long threat from the visiting squad, but the San Nicolas Sharks came up big in the final canto to win against Great 8 contender The Nobodies, 94-82 to a jampacked crowd at the SN Forum.
Coming off a rollercoaster of a week, where the Cavite five saw a League win against lowly J Court followed by a second straight heartbreaking loss in BBM competition at the hands of Ethereal Rabbits, the home side were looking to finish the week off on a positive note. But the visitors had other plans.
Powered by Laureano Queixeiro early on, The Nobodies took the fight to the Sharks. But the tandem of Koki Dzotsenidze and Pablo López connived to take the lead at the end of the first, 24-23.
The second quarter would see Turkish spitfire guard Fehim Samur take more shots at the basket, which was more than enough to take the driver seat from the Bacoor-based franchise at the end of the first half, 44-40.
Samur would deal further damage when play resumed in the second half, with the visitors leading by as much as eight points, until a 7-0 run led by Yousef Bin-Yaseen and Markos Papatrichas would keep the Sharks within one point, 52-51, about halfway through the quarter.
The ensuing six minutes would see the two squads exchange baskets like prized fighters exchanging blows, until a Victor Boteros jumper finally saw the Sharks take the lead at 59-58 with about a minute left in the 3rd quarter. This would prove to be the scoreline after three periods, with all the makings of a cardiac finish at play.
But a quick 7-1 run in the opening minutes of the 4th engineered by Bin-Yaseen, Dzotsenidze and "Tranquilo" López caught The Nobodies flat-footed. The Sharks would continue to call Dzotsenidze's number underneath as he proved to be unstoppable in the paint. The lead went as high as 13 points at one stretch.
The "Georgian Tower" would end up with a monster effort of 28 points and 17 rebounds, with López following with 25. Bin-Yaseen had a decent outing of his own with 14 points and 14 boards. Papatrichas rounded up the double-digits scorers for the Sharks with just 10 points, but he came up big in other departments grabbing seven caroms and dishing out five assists.
"This was a character game for us." said team manager Ceruver. "We had a rough patch this week and we were having a tough game early on. It was key for us to find that next gear that will prove to be the difference in these types of games" he further added.
"It's good to win these types of games." said Markos Papatrichas. "Especially when the usual flow of the game doesn't really come your way and you have to look to other parts of your team system to try and make work for the game. This time, it was Koki that shined." he further added.
The win keeps them atop the League with an unblemished 11-0 record. They will put that streak on the line against Great 8 #3 seed and former DII squad dakdakers on the 10th of August.