INQUIRER Sports

GAMES WEDNESDAY (Cebu Coliseum)

5 p.m.?Cebu Niños vs Laguna Stallions

7 p.m.?MisOr Meteors vs Quezon Red Oilers

CEBU CITY?THE QUEZON RED OILers made up for a humiliating setback at the hands of the M. Lhuillier Kwarta Padala Cebu by subduing the Smart Pampanga Buddies, 64-52, last night in the Smart Liga Pilipinas Conference 3 Super Leg at the Cebu Coliseum here.

Firing on all cylinders, the Red Oilers were on track to remove the stigma of their Cebu debacle right from the start, erecting several double-digit leads in the second period that allowed them to pull away for good.

Jonathan Pinera and Hafer Mondragon did most of the damage as they relentlessly punctured the internal defense of the Buddies to spearhead Quezon to a 1-1 record in the super leg where the top team automatically gets one of two available seats to the finals.

The Buddies, who leaned on the 18 points of Al Magpayo, couldn?t find their range, shooting just 30 percent (17 of 57) from the field to absorb a second consecutive defeat following their setback against the Misamis Oriental Meteors Monday.

With the 6-foot-3 Mondragon all over the floor, the Oilers jumped the gun on the Buddies, racing to a 15-7 lead that ballooned to a double-digit advantage at halftime through the efforts of Luis Palaganas, Floyd Dedicatoria and Rob Labagala.

?We came out aggressive from the start. I think that was the key,? said Quezon coach Oliver Bunyi.

Lhuillier Kwarta Padala Cebu stretched its unbeaten run to 17 games after demolishing the Red Oilers, 76-51, Monday night.

The scores:

QUEZON RED OILERS 64?Pinera 13, Labagala 11, Mondragon 10, Panzo 7, Dedicatoria 6, Palaganas 5, Raymundo 5, Cacha 3, Suguitan 2, Orias 2, Canizares 0, Chua 0

PAMPANGA SMART BUDDIES 52?Magpayo 18, Gelig 8, Husted 7, Thiele 5, Aldave 4, Villamin 3, An. Espiritu 2, Asoro 2, Al. Espiritu 2, Daroya 1, Saguindel 0, Tan 0, Nicdao 0

Quarters: 15-7; 33-19; 51-30; 64-52