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WITH only a few games left in the regular season, teams in the 2012 Guam Youth Basketball Association (GYBA) Youth Basketball League are putting forth their best efforts before post-season action rolls in.

Last night at the Astumbo Gym, the Warriors Blue took on a tough Raiders squad in a very exciting match. At the end of 32 minutes of play, the Warriors came from behind to pick up a 25-22 victory over the Raiders.

Heading into the fourth quarter, both teams were deadlocked at 20-20 and it came down to the final eight minutes to decide an eventual winner.

A minute into the period, the Warriors’ Jason Diaz used his speed after intercepting a Raiders pass to convert a layup and put his team up 22-20. Several plays later, Daryl Reyes answered back for the Raiders and put back an offensive rebound to tie the game at 22-22. Both teams would go the next three minutes running into some difficulty finding the bottom of the net.

After being fouled, Diaz found himself at the charity stripe with only two minutes left in the game. Converting on one of two free throws, Diaz put the Warriors up by a point. The Raiders had several opportunities to retake the lead, but just couldn’t seem to get the ball to fall in their favor.

With seconds left in the game, the Raiders were forced to foul to put Diaz back at the line. Staying calm and composed, Diaz drained back-to-back free throws to increase the Warriors lead to 25-22. The Raiders ran out of time before being able to get off a shot, giving the Warriors the win.

In the opening minutes of the game, the Raiders took early control and quickly opened a 9-0 lead. The trio of Shane Ezra, Mason Pablo and Mark Mandapat combined for all nine in the small surge. The Warriors were able to put a halt to the Raiders run after Reo Aiken zeroed in from long range to nail a 3.

In the final three minutes of the first quarter, the Raiders closed out with six straight points to build a 15-3 lead.

The Warriors played much better basketball in the second quarter on both ends of the floor. Offensively, the Warriors were able to score eight points. On the other end of the floor, the Raiders were held to only three points. As both teams went into the halftime break, the Raiders held on to a slim 18-11 lead.

Returning from the break, the Warriors picked up where they left off. After allowing Pablo to start the quarter out with a basket to give the Raiders a 20-11 lead, it was all Warriors from that point on. Led by Diaz’s five points, the Warriors finished the third quarter going on a 9-0 run to knot the game at 20-20 at the end of three.

Diaz led the Warriors, scoring a game-high 13 points, while teammate Aiken added seven. Ezra’s six points led the Raiders, while teammates Pablo and Mandapat scored five and four points, respectively.