By Mohammad Rasheed Suyat

RIYADH — Marcafe defeated Arabian Homes 72-56 to claim the 1st RFBL Championship for 2018.

Marcafe played excellent defense to tame the offense of the losers in the final quarter. Losers tried hard but could not catch up in the dying seconds. Justin Payongayong had 18 points and 7 assists for the winner and was adjudged the best player of the game.

This tournament is sponsored by J&L Apparel of Louie Gallardo, Kapitana Restaurant of Nilo Dela Cruz, Zultec - El Caviteno Basketball Team of Benjie Yanga, FCBR Alkarj Referees by Larry Balon, RFBL Referees and Committees and assisted by Jeddah Basketball League (JBL).

The awarding ceremony was spearheaded by Mike Calungcaguin and assisted by Al Catana, Andrew Vallejo, Choi Villafuerte , Richard Calungcagin and Dan De Castro.

Awardees:

Marcafe — Champion, Arabian Homes — 1st runner-up, Tambay Pogi: 2nd runner-up and KSA All Stars: 3rd Runner-up. The elite mythical five best players are Harris Vargas (Arabian Homes), Michael Medina (Arabian Homes), Stephen Dela Pena (Marcafe), Justin Payongayong Marcafe and Russel Magoncia (Marcafe).

Coach Noriel Camus was selected as the Best Coach, while Justin Payongayong was adjudged the Most Valuable Player (MVP). Best Uniform award went to Saudia Cargo – Riyadh and Sportsmanship Award was claimed by Lloyd Imbang of Saudia Cargo.