MANILA, Philippines—Flaunting a revamped line-up, Powerade sweated out a 98-87 win over gutsy Shopinas.com Wednesday in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City.
With main man Gary David in his usual form, the Tigers hardly missed the absence of top overall pick JV Casio, who is out due to a nagging leg injury.
David jumpstarted Powerade’s attack as he exploded for 31 points to give the Tigers a huge double-digit buffer early in the game.
Shopinas however, wasn’t to be pushed around as it climbed out of a 24-point hole and moved to within three, 70-73, on a JR Sena putback.
Powerade though proved to be too much, as it immediately restored order with a 12-2 blitz to finally take the game away from the Clickers.
Sena, the former Jose Rizal U standout, established his presence down low with 15 points.
Renren Ritualo, who was reunited with then La Salle coach and now Shopinas.com mentor Franz Pumaren, rediscovered his shooting stroke to pace the Clickers with 19 markers.
Celino Cruz added 15 points while Marcio Lassiter, the fourth overall pick, chipped in with 10.