EPBL: Alumaco stops Tuwairqi, Phuket sweeps first round
week, the Ed Bation-coached Sharbatly five succumbed to its second loss in three games.
After trailing by a point with less than 4 minutes remaining, Phuket took a 70-69 lead with 3:29 left when Arnold Arguilles picked up a loose ball and calmly laid it in starting a 10-4 windup. It was Phuket’s first lead since closing the third period with a 54-52 advantage.
With Sharbatly missing opportunities, Jon Cabrigas hit a 15-foot jumper with 1:12 left and Dante Alipin making all his four free throws to put Phuket in front for good 76-69.
In the Premier League, Reniel Garcia scored 16 points and grabbed 8 rebounds while three-point gunner Elmer Fabula netted a game-high 19 points to power Al Rushaid Construction Company to an 84-64 rout of the undermanned National Pipe Company.
ARCC improved to 2-1 on the conference, matching the Pipemakers for the best record in EPBL in this threeround elimination phase.
Anthony Nabong led NPC with 16 points while big man Ariel Layug scored 15 and Ernie Baggay added 13.
ARCC dropped their opening game to NPC and then rallied in the second half for a 99-90 triumph over New Cabalen Restaurant last week.
With the absence of key players led by forward, Melvin Mamaclay, the boys of ex-pro Jovy See used a backbreaking 23-4 run in the second period to rip the game apart following a tied first quarter at 17-all. NPC never threatened from that point on.
MEBCO 74, Kabayan Foods 72; Saipem 75, EIC 72; Tikaz Cooline 79, Al Majdouie 77; Transformer 84, Arcon 81. GENEVA: Former UCI president Hein Verbruggen called Lance Armstrong’s claim that he helped cover up the rider’s doping at the 1999 Tour de France a “ridiculous story” and said Tuesday he has nothing to fear from an independent investigation.
Armstrong alleged collusion by Verbruggen during his first Tour victory in an interview published Monday in Britain’s Daily Mail.
After urine samples showed traces of a banned corticosteroid, Armstrong’s team produced a backdated prescription for a saddle sores cream. He was allowed to continue riding toward a victory which revived the sport’s popularity after damaging doping scandals.
“It’s a ridiculous story and, in addition to that, it was not a positive (doping) case,” Verbruggen told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. “He must have reasons to come up with these allegations. I don’t know what ... maybe to do with his court cases.”
Verbruggen did say he spoke to Armstrong at the time.
“I might have told him that the UCI needs a prescription but I am sure that was handled by our antidoping department, not me,” he said. “According to our rules, it (the prescription) could be done afterwards.”
Armstrong had declined to implicate the UCI during his interview with Oprah Winfrey in January, in which he admitted extensive doping, including with cortisone, during his seven Tour wins.
In this week’s Daily Mail interview, he claimed Verbruggen instigated a cover-up to explain his positive tests at cycling’s signature race, which had been wrecked by doping cases in 1998.
“The real problem was, the sport was on life support,” Armstrong was quoted as saying. “And Hein just said, ‘This is a real problem for me, this is the knockout punch for our sport ... so we’ve got to come up with something.’“
Verbruggen said cortisone ointment had been permitted.
“It was a cortisone shot that was not allowed,” he said, adding that the pattern of Armstrong’s tests on four different days was consistent with using a cream.
The explanation was accepted by French authorities, who held responsibility above the UCI for anti-doping at the race, Verbruggen said.