Three in a row for Barako

Barako Bull is off to a rousing start with three straight wins at the eight-team 2nd Al Shabab Clubs Invitational Tournament in Dubai but coach Rajko Toroman expects rough sailing in the road to the finals. The basketball joust began last Friday and ends this Saturday.

Barako is bracketed in Group B with Al Ahly of Benghazi, Libya, Al Zamalek of Egypt Air and Team Unity. Group A is made up of host Al Shabbab, Hoops of Lebanon, Al Sahel of Kuwait and the University of Sharjah. Teams played groupmates once in the first round of preliminaries then tonight, the knockout crossover quarterfinals will pit No. 1 against No. 4 and No. 2 against No. 3 of both brackets with the survivors clashing in the semifinals tomorrow. The finals will be held Saturday night.

The Energy Cola Bulls came from behind to upset Al Ahly, 80-75, in their opener last Friday. Al Ahly was on top, 38-37, at the half and remained ahead, 58-54, to start the fourth period. Barako forward Allein Maliksi unloaded 14 of his 21 points in the last quarter to seal the deal. A full-court press led by diminutive point guard Eman Monfort wreaked havoc on Al Ahly’s offense and resulted in turnovers that fueled Barako’s transition attack.

Al Ahly’s coach Veselin Matic is Serbian and the former Iranian national coach like Toroman. Matic, 52, piloted Iran from 2009 to 2012. “Al Ahly is very athletic and very physical,” said Toroman. “They played very aggressive and we had a lot of turnovers, over 20. We also had a problem with FIBA rules as they called us seven times for travelling what usually aren’t called in the PBA.”

Barako hit 9-of-18 triples and broke Al Ahly’s back with booming shots. Import Mike Singletary finished with 31 points, including 5-of-7 triples and 10-of-13 free throws, and 14 rebounds. Maliksi played only three minutes in the first half because of foul trouble but was unstoppable down the stretch.

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“Our problem was Mick (Pennisi) and Danny (Seigle) played limited minutes because they couldn’t practice too much,” said Toroman. “Danny had only one practice and Mick is still injured.” Doug Kramer, playing in the middle, delivered eight points and nine rebounds. Quarterback Jonas Villanueva had seven points and five assists. Newly-recruited Keith Jensen chipped in six points. Sharpshooter Mark Macapagal contributed six points and Monfort two.

“Mick played only five minutes but for this kind of teams, you have to be ready 100 percent,” noted Toroman. “There were about 1,000 Filipinos cheering for us. I think it will be more in the coming games. Dubai is great to visit. Our hotel is five-star and new and the food is very good.”

Al Ahly’s imports were 6-2 Craig Winder of the University of Texas and 6-6 Ryan Holmes of Philander Smith College. The team’s local locals are brothers Mohammed and Osama Yusuf Abdelqader.

In Barako’s next game last Saturday, the Energy Cola tripped Al Zamalek, 80-72. Singletary fired 26 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Maliksi tallied 13, Pennisi 10, Macapagal nine, J. C. Intal eight, Villanueva five, Kramer four and six rebounds and Jensen two.

Last Monday, Barako made it three in a row with a 94-63 romp over Team Unity coached by Bosnia’s Mensur Amovic. Despite playing with three imports, Team Unity was overwhelmed by the Energy Cola. Singletary finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds even as he logged only five minutes in the second half. Macapagal had 17 points while Maliksi, Villanueva and rookie Dave Marcelo 10 apiece. Marcelo also brought down six boards. Pennisi tallied nine points and Jensen six, Intal six, Kramer four with nine rebounds and Celino Cruz two. Monfort was scoreless but delivered eight assists.

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Toroman attributed the win to defense. Team Unity showed up with American imports Jermaine Joshua, Torry Cox and Jermaine Thomas. The original lineup listed three imports, three Egyptians and one All-Star each from Kuwait, Qatar, Lebanon and Tunisia but only seven players reported for duty. In a previous game, Team Unity lost a 102-92 decision to Al Ahly.   

Tipped to claim one of two Finals tickets is Hoops of Lebanon whose imports are 6-9 Harold Jamison of Clemson and 6-3 Corey Williams of Alabama State. Hoops’ locals are led by 6-0 Hassan Lakkis and 6-9 Ali Amiruddin Fakhreddine. Another contender is Al Shabab although the host club lost its first game to Hoops, 94-91 in overtime. Al Shabab’s imports are 6-0 Chauncey Lewis of Iowa and 6-9 Joseph Taylor of Wyoming. An import playing in the tournament is Chris Burgess who saw action for San Miguel Beer in the 2005 PBA Fiesta Conference. The 6-10 Burgess played for Mike Krzyzewski at Duke University and Rick Majerus at the University of Utah in the collegiate ranks.

The Al Shabab competition is being held under the patronage of Sheikh Mansour Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum with support from the Dubai Sports Council. Tournament director is Fares Al Mutawa with Waleed Awad Samy as assistant. An event coordinator is Dubai-based Filipino Jhun Paule.