Game Magazine
August, 1973
Fort Yerro
Statistics are like tarot cards; properly read, they tell a story. Thursday’s frenetic finale of the MICAA championship series, as pieced together from assorted, seemingly unrelated figures, is a story serving as a primer on the Mathematics of Defeat.
“The hardest way is the sweetest way,” intoned Coach Valentin “Tito” Eduque of the Concepcion Motorolas before Game Three with the Toyota Comets. Little did he know that the wrath of math would fall on his charges. For sweet indeed was the 73-72 pulse-pounder the Motorolas carved out of Game Two. The price of that victory, however, was high.
Concepcion lost Rogelio Melencio who, after his rib-snapping fall in the second half, painfully watched Game Three from the bench. Melencio was his team’s top rebounder for the best -of-three series, averaging 5 rebounds a game. He had good reason to watch Game Three from the sidelines than on delayed telecast from a hospital bed: his teammates had dedicated the game to him.
The Motorolas had banked on the dreaded artillery, featuring Arthur Herrera and lanky Jaime Mariano, to neutralize Toyota’s bulk and height. Post-game figures proved the strategy wrong. Howitzers against Sherman tanks was a mismatch.
Concepcion started Game Three with Mariano’s gun ablaze. He converted 7 of his 10 attempts from the field, and missed only 2 of his 6 charities in the first half. Ramon Lucindo and Alfonso Marquez provided fire support. Hotshot Herrera settled for a single lay-up.
For the Toyotas, it was Camus weaving wonders with his hook shots. Cristino Reynoso and Ompong Segura were also swishing the nets. Ramon Fernandez delivered twice from beneath, but he ran into foul trouble and sat out the rest of the first half. Lemontime score was in Concepcion’s favor, 45-42. The howitzers were holding out against the Shermans.
Sonny Jaworski took over Toyota’s scoring chore in the second half, notching 14 points. Mariano, who hurt a finger, slackened, sinking only 4 out of 10 field tries. His total output for the night: 26 points, a game high. His accuracy from the field was 46.1%.
Mariano had a spree, but the rest of the team were badly off. Herrera never found his bearings, shackled by a string of guards thrown at him. The Comets outscored the Motolas in the second half, 39-30, cashing in on six Concepcion errors to wrest the lead in the third quarter and ice Game Three. Toyota had better accuracy from the field, 41%, from 33 successful shots out of 80 attempts. Concepcion registered 37% (30 out of 81). The Motorolas were not shooting as expected, but that’s not even half of the story.
On the foul line, where a player shoots free of any interference, the Motorolas converted only 15 of 24 attempts for a poor 60%. Toyota, awarded 18 gift shots, muffed only 3 for 83.3%.
A look at the rebounding column dispels all doubts as to the Comets’ source of strength. They outrebounded the Motorolas, 45-29, with 6’3, 205-pound Alberto Reynoso and well-positioned Orlando Bauzon hauling down 5 each. Jaime Noblezada, built like a stone, snatched 5 rebounds for the Motorolas; Mariano, stretching his 6’4 frame, grabbed 4.
And that’s how the numbers told their tale.
(A special note of thanks to Lourdes Estrella, a friend of GAME, for helping out with the figures.)
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