MANILA, Philippines—RnW Pacific Pipes shook off its losing mentality as it snapped a four-game skid in a 75-59, upending of Pharex Bidang Generix Tuesday in the PBA D-League Foundation cup at the Marikina Sports Complex in Marikina.
“We got used to losing,” said neophyte head coach of Pacific Pipes Topex Robinson. “This win is a big relief.”
RnW, which had a hard time to follow up its opening game victory, held Pharex on a leash for good six minutes in the fourth quarter while dumping 10 unanswered points.
Back-to-back baskets by Raymund Ilagan brought the lead to double digits anew for the Pacific Pipes with 4:15 left after the Bidang Generix went on a 10-0 tear of their own to start the fourth quarter.
Ilagan threw in 14 points while RnW main man and former PBL MVP Vic Manuel added 16 to boost the Pacific Pipes slate to 2-4 in Group A.
Pharex, which in turn lost its third straight for 2-3 record, only came back in offense when RnW has already erected a 16-point advantage with only a minute left to play.
The Bidang Generix, came as close to 59-53 with 6:48 in the fourth courtesy of La Salle standout James Mangahas, who led Pharex with 15 points.
Meanwhile, Max! Bond rolled to its third straight victory for a share of the helm as it pummeled lowly Junior Powerade, 76-64.
“This is a good preparation for our next game (against Cebuana Lhuiller). What’s important is our game is progressing,” said Sumos head mentor Pido Jarencio.
Max! Bond leaned on its big men for the demolition as Reil Cervantes punched in 17 markers while Jun Cabatu had 13.
Rudy Lingganay also got into the scoring mix with 15 points while Jeric Teng added 12.
Built on a core of University of Santo Tomas mainstays and a few veterans, the Sumos never relinquished the lead to the Tigers and even extended to it the largest of 15 points.
Max! Bond used a scoring barrage in the second half to pull away from a slim 45-40 lead at the half as hard-lucked Junior Powerade failed to flourish from the field.
The Sumos are tied with the Gems and Cobra with 3-1 in Group B.