It will be an exciting ballgame as the defending champions Peched Raw meets a hard fighting Ngermid Rivals tonight in Game Five of the winner take all championship series of the 2014 IP&E National Basketball League (NBL) at the Palau National gym.

Game time is set at 7:30 p.m.

The game wraps up in Game Five after the Rivals beat Peched Raw, 107-105 Wednesday night in Game Four. It was a difficult victory for the Rivals who had their backs against the wall after Peched Raw took Game Three via 89-85. Now the series is all squared to 2-games apiece and tonight decides who takes home the trophy and the bragging rights.

In Game Four the score was tied at 105-all with the seconds left in the match. Rivals’ Marvic Ngchar took matters into his own hands as he drove strong to the basket but he missed on a lay up. Good thing Ngchar’s teammate Ray Rumong was there in the paint and went for a follow up and still missed as the ball past by the rim.

With the game seeing an overtime stint, Elway Ngiraboi came to the Rivals’ rescue as he leap high for another follow up and got the basket to take a 107-105 lead with barely .4 seconds left in the game. Peched Raw could have took the game as Douglas Schmidt Jr. took a desperate three but was blocked by Ngchar that gave the win to the Rivals.

Elway Ngiraboi topscored for the Rivals with 23 as Ngchar together with teammate King Ngiraboi finished the game with identical 22 points, respectively. Rumong and Ody Yalap chipped in 15 and 13, in that order.

On the other hand, Douglas Schmidt Jr. carried the scoring load for Peched Raw with 45 points as teammate Dennis Castro and Traxx Mark Remeliik tallied 20 and 18, respectively.

Trophies and special awards will be given to the winners immediately after Game Five. The tournament, which is supervised by the Palau Basketball Federation (PBF), is a tobacco, alcohol and drug free program. For more information call Topps or Mikey at 488-4491. By Peter Erick L. Magbanua (Island Times News)