It was just one of two baskets from the free throw line by Lorenz Dungca with eight seconds left in the game but it’s worth the sweetest moment as the Khalifa Boyz escaped a one-point victory over GAC Motors, 69-68, in the quarterfinal rounds of the Senior Open Division of Ooredoo Cup 2017 held at the Al Gharafa Training Gym recently.
The win indeed served as a morale booster for the Khalifa Boyz since they were trailing behind the team standings in the elimination rounds thus improving their chances to enter the tight semifinal race among the top star-studded teams.
The event is been hosted by Pinoy Basketball of Qatar (PIBAQ).
For GAC’s Genaro Talens it was a nightmare for him to commit the costly foul as the final buzzer is almost about to sound that would give them a chance to extend another five minutes of play . Team-mate Noriel Jambalos tied the game with a jumper at 68-all with 20 seconds left in the game.
GAC actually was on the momentum with a minute to go as they tried to fought back with jumpers and conversions from the free throw line that saw a see-saw scoring chores by both squads.
Khalifa was commanding the lead in the last quarter but they could only settle it to just single-digit advantage as the GAC boys refused to budge and kept coming back to slice the lead to as low as three points.
The game was so tight that it was tied at 14-all in the first quarter and Khalifa only eked out a two-pont edge, 29-27, in the low-scoring first half.
Khalifa sparked a mini rally halfway through the third quarter by upping the lead to six points , 49-43, but that was all they could put up since the GAC boys kept coming back.
Allan Alombro led Khalifa with 14 points complemented by Leo Sarcon with 12 and Dungca and Troy Martin added a share of the cake with 11 points apiece.
In the other game, AA Tailoring Vintage overwhelmed Lucky Seven with a commanding 26-point edge, 78-52.
