Friars Beat GW

The balanced attack by the FD Friars were too much for the pre-season champion GW Geckos. With so many weapons coming at the Geckos and a halfcourt offense that was working as it was drawn up, the Friars methodically built a large lead on their way to a 73-58 win Tuesday night at the Phoenix Center in IIAAG boys basketball action.

“Our boys really executed our halfcourt sets, especially in the first half,” Friars head coach Eddie Pelkey said. “It got away from them a bit late in the game when GW made its run, but overall the boys did a great job. It was business-like. I was satisfied.”

With spread out and balanced sets, the Friars executed its halfcourt game at will resulting in many open layups – usually getting started by backcourt mates Josh Paulino and Roy Taimanglo. FD pulled away from an 11-11 game to end the first quarter leading 20-15 on an Isaiah Sablan floater.

The pressure didn’t stop there as Thomas Fegurgur’s layup in the second quarter pushed the lead to 35-20.

“We made better reads once the defense adjusted and went through our progressions a lot more fluid, so we’re making strides in the right direction,” Pelkey added.

The Friars’ largest lead of the night came late in the third when another Sablan floater increased it to 56-36.
The scrappy Geckos benched fought hard and cut the lead to 63-51 on a Karlo Deleon layup, but it was too little too late.

Taimanglo led the balanced Friar attack with 14 points with Paulino dishing out no-look dimes throughout. Leon Shimizu chipped in 12.