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Philippine basketball goes Open

The expat communities are opening up their events for all residents in the UAE these days and the latest to join the list is the Philippine Expat Basketball Club (PEBC).

PEBC will organise a truly Open event during summer this season, probably as early as July, for all communities.

The organisers are mainly eyeing teams from the Indian Basketball Society organised Indian Basketball League apart from the other leagues and events here.

There are three to four well organised Filipino basketball leagues in the UAE with the Dubai chapters being the most active and where sponsorship backup is appreciable unlike the IBS where funds have been a stumbling block for the past six seasons.

“We would like to open the league for the Filipinos and Indian basketball players who are residing in the UAE. PEBC is currently on it’s 2^nd conference where we have 32 teams from 3 divisions with all Filipino players playing for each team,” Edwin Deang, PEBC chairman said, in a media release.

“We would like to invite everyone to attend our upcoming team meeting, details of which will be made known as early as possible,” added Deang.

“PEBC was founded in July 2011 when a group sports enthusiasts came together with one thing in common, the love of the game of basketball. Talented athletes, like-minded coaches, and determined organisational people pooled their interests to make dreams come true. The Philippine Expat Basketball Club began as this concept unfolded,” stated Deang.

“Our mission is to provide a friendly and competitive environment for all ages that would enable them to participate in basketball training and games, enhance their skills, and learn the values of teamwork, respect, dedication, and hard work thru the love of playing basketball.

“It is also our mission to showcase their talents and provide the experience of playing competitive basketball in our own amateur league.”

The PEBC successfully organised Season 1 — 1^st Conference in February this year where 38 teams participated in a league format.

PEBC went on successfully to organise the recent PBA games in Dubai from February 23-24, 2012. Over 8,000 people watched the games at the venue with 90 per cent coming from the Filipino community.

“Where courage and spirit shines ‘saan ka pa’!,” Deang added.

All interested in knowing more about the proposed league and Open basketball activities can contact Edwin Deang,

PEBC chairman, on 050-6554207. Meanwhile elsewhere, Sharjah-based oil and gas company Dana Gas played full throttle all game long to overwhelm Magallon, 62-54, in the final leg of the elimination round of the Basketball Athletes Leisure League (BALL) at Al Nahda Park recently.

The victory was the fourth for Dana Gas in five games of the mainly Filipino community focussed event and they ranked second in their group after Destroyers who trounced Dubai Falcons, 62-47, in an earlier match.

Noel Quezon led the balanced scoring for Dana Gas with 21 points, followed by Bon Mañalac with 12 and Jonas Villanueva with nine. Big man Franco Alves finished with only six points but grabbed 15 rebounds.

Dana Gas led by only three points, 11-8, after the first quarter but came out hot in the second quarter to pull away with a huge margin, 36-18.

They remained in the driving seat in the third quarter with a commanding double-digit lead, 47-36.

Magallon made a rally in the final quarter and cut down the deficit to just six points, 55-49, with less than four minutes left in the game.

Magallon’s comeback, however, was short-lived as Dana Gas imposed their dominance inside the paint and played smart defence to protect their lead.

“Defence was the key to our win. We were already in the lead and we just need to protect it in the end game,” said Dana Gas coach Vedz Caguineman.

“It means a lot for us to enter the semis. We dedicate our win to our management especially to Mr. Nasser Akram who has been very supportive to our team,” added team captain Mark de Guzman.

moni@khaleejtimes.com