Everything was going right for the Western Ballaz on Friday night at the Sacred Heart College Auditorium in San Ignacio, following a deep trey by Richard Troyer, which gave his team (Western Ballaz) the seemingly unsurmountable 72-55 fourth quarter lead with just about 6:46 remaining in regulation.But seventeam turnovers, two apiece by Richard Troyer and Darwin Leslie, coupled with three missed field goal attempts, of which two were from long distance, were the key components that fuel the 19-9 Bandits run that managed to cut the deficit to five79-74, with 0:44 remaining in the game. Fortunately for the Ballaz, they converted 3 of 8 free-throws attempts late, with Elsworth Itza (9 pts 9 rebs) converting 2 of 4,and Ray Cruz (6 pts 4 rebs) converting 1 of 4; these coupled with their cushy lead enabled them to seal the 81-74 win.

The Bandits came into Ballaz country boasting a decent (3-1) record, and hastily took the early 15-9 lead behind Farron Louriano and Stephen Williams scoring 11 of their team’s first 15 points. The Ballaz responded quickly though,and as a result enjoyed the 20-17 first quarter lead.

An Early second quarter 5 points offensive outburst by Jamie Carbajal sparked the visiting Bandits offence, which subsequently went on a 23-11 run to give the visitors the 40-31 lead with two minutes remaining until the half. But 7 points late in the quarter by Richard Troyer and free throws by Darwin Leslie helped shrinked the Bandits lead to a mere three points, 42-39 at halftime.

A quick 22-10 spurt in third quarter open action sparked by Troyer, Nolberto and Rogers as well as strong defense enabled the Ballaz to open up a61-52 lead, thebiggest cushion of the game.And when the visitors pulled within reach late in the fourth, it was the Ballaz’cushion that allowed them to hold off the Bandits down the stretch.

Richard Troyerhad his best game of the 2017 campaign so far, totaling a game high 21 pts on 7 of 15 shooting to go along with 10 rebs and 1 asst. The Ballaz club also had significant contributions from Daniel Nolberto and Darwin Leslie who contributed 18 pts 2 rebs 2 asst and 11 pts 6 rebs 4 asst respectively.

The Bandits had four players scoring in double figures with Farron Louriano totaling 17 pts 7 rebs 2 asst, followed by Stephen Williams 15 pts 9 rebs, Edgar Mitchell 13 pts 5 rebs 8 asst and Greg Rudon with 10 pts 1 reb.